Path of the Broken Mage
by GuardianSoulBlade
Summary: AU. Summary: Morgan Le Fay summons a Heroic Spirit to murder King Arthur, what came to her was the Mage Shirou Emiya. Forced to fight the woman he loves against his will, he is captured and taken to Camelot as a prisoner. What will he do when Arturia sees him only as a heartless monster who butchered her knights?
1. Demons Do Not Cry

**Path of the Broken Mage**

 ** _Summary_** _: AU. Morgan Le Fay summons a Heroic Spirit to murder King Arthur, what came to her was the Mage Shirou Emiya. Forced to fight the woman he loves against his will, he is captured and taken to Camelot as a prisoner. What will he do when Arturia sees him only as a heartless monster who butchered her knights?_

 _"Pain provides an opportunity for heroism; the opportunity is seized with surprising frequency."  
― C.S. Lewis, **The Problem of Pain**_

 ** _Author's Note:_** _Yes, in some legends, Arthur has sons, but they all died tragically, it fits perfectly into the Nasuverse, they all had E-rank luck! Loholt was murdered by Kay so he could take credit for killing the giant Logrin. Llacheu was slain in battle, Duran dies at Camlann, and Arthur slew Amhar for unknown reasons, and probably the one that I find the saddest, Gwydre got gored to death by a boar while on a quest. Also tweaked the grammar errors people keep telling me about, I think I found the one that bugged me the most so hopefully I got it fixed, I always end up fixing stuff in these chapters anyway so never print my story for like the first week._

 _Shirou's reaction to her children is going to be great._

* * *

 **Demons Do Not Cry**

Morgan Le Fay quietly approached her prisoner, he was a defiant one, all forms of torture did nothing to break his resolve, he would not become her Servant of his own free will. She would be forced to waste her first Command Seal to put him in his place.

"You're still alive, Heroic Spirit," she smirked.

Morgan Le Fay is mistaken, he is not a heroic spirit, he is a mage, and he was powerful, but she was far stronger than he anticipated, and despite his valiant attempt to escape from her castle, she had overpowered him, and had tortured him for months.

"I'm not a Heroic Spirit," Shirou snapped angrily. "I'm a human."

"You aren't much of a man now either," she sneered, she'd made sure that the pains and tortures were horrific in nature, but she planned to heal him enough to make him "functional" whether he agreed to help her or not, but she was growing inpatient, she wanted nothing more than to unleash this powerful spirit on Arturia to watch her struggle against this monster as he slaughtered her people and her knights.

She'd read his thoughts with difficulty, his mental shields had been formidable, but she'd learned of his lover called Saber, even though Morgan could not see the woman's image, she knew that Shirou loved her. What better way to hurt him than by ruining his body so he could not make love to this woman, whoever she was.

Shirou glared at her, he was bound and determined to live, he wouldn't die like this in some castle dungeon, tortured to death, he would escape and find Saber, he could endure any pain and torture for her sake, and he wouldn't let the Witch think she'd won because she'd mutilated him. Once he found Saber, she would heal him completely.

At least he hoped so; he'd had his stomach blown out by Berserker, he had not been castrated by Morgan Le Fay.

Still in theory, being around Saber again would heal him, but right now, that wasn't happening. He could really use some morphine right now, it was wishful thinking.

He could withstand this torture, he'd been through worse. He would escape and find Saber, he would see her again.

"I really didn't want to use it, seems like such a waste, but if it will make you my obedient Servant then I will use it!" Morgan Le Fay seethed. "By my first Command Seal, go to the six villages nearby and slay all you see, kill all who try to stop you!"

"I can't. _I won't!_ " Shirou screamed, enraged.

But the Command Seal compelled him to move, but his mind was still completely functional. He was in the worst form of hell he could imagine and he couldn't stop himself. He knew he would kill all those people.

He would not be a hero of justice, but there was something that caused him far more agony.

His evil deeds would cut him off from Saber in Avalon, and Saber in her own present time, how would he be able to look her in the face knowing what he was being forced to do?

Shirou approached the village, as he was stopped by the town guard; he cut them down without a word.

The panic and the screaming would echo in Shirou's ears for eternity. He slew all he saw, even as tears streamed down his face.

All the men and women were dead, the children were almost all dead, save for a few that hid in a barn.

"Demons do not cry. I am a demon because I couldn't cry anymore right? Humans cry, and when their tears finally run dry, there's nothing left but a demon or a monster and one final prayer for death."

The children huddled together, weeping and wailing in fear. Shirou felt he was trapped in a horrific nightmare as his arms raised his swords to strike them down, and he could do nothing to stop himself.

"You mustn't cry, children. Say your prayers before you sleep. Amen children."

His blades passed through them one by one, but as he came to the last child, he used every ounce of his willpower to stay his blades.

"Run!" he screamed through his tears. " _RUN_!"

The sole survivor of the village did just that.

And so the Archer of Red became the terror of Britain.

The little boy could only hear Shirou's agonized cries as he looked back one last time to see the Archer of Red, kneeling on the ground, his eyes raised to heaven, sobbing in agony.

* * *

King Arthur sat on her throne, seething in rage. Over the last six days, six children had begged entrance to Camelot, each bringing with them a horrific tale of the slaughter of their entire villages by one man, an archer in red. They didn't know why he came, but all he did was butcher them like cattle, and any who tried to figt him died horrifically, impaled by dozens of swords.

"My Lord, we must do something!" Lancelot Du Lac shouted. "We shall ride out immediately and slay this man!"

A young man stepped forward, "Father, let my brothers and I go and defeat this Archer of Red, we'll bring back his head with a tale of adventure worthy of the Round Table!"

"No you will not, Amhar!" Arthur gazed down at her son; it had been very difficult for Merlin to help her conceive more children with Guinevere after Morgan Le Fay stole the semen to create Mordred, but she had five sons, Amhar, Gwydre, Llacheu, Duran and Loholt. She loved all of them dearly, raised them well and did not play favorites, but as they grew older, they demanded to know which one of them would succeed her after she died.

The nobles talked, whispering that the King's indulgence with his wife would cause a succession crisis, and people were already taking sides, pressuring the king to choose an heir to the throne of Camelot.

"We are brave and valiant father, we can defeat him," Llacheu agreed with Amhar, "The five of us shall vanquish him!"

"By my faith, my sons will be the death of me!" Arthur groaned, burying her face in her palm. "Your brashness will kill you, have I not taught you to be wary when approaching any mage?"

"But father, we can—" Loholt joined in the chorus.

"No! We will battle this mage with the might of Britain's armies, you'll do as I say and stay here until we are ready to leave!" Arthur glared at her sons. They fell silent and left.

Once they were out of earshot, Duran spoke, "I told you all not to say anything to father, and look how it turned out. He keeps us cooped up in the castle; he won't even send us out on Quests with any of the Round Table!"

"I agree with Duran, but you all dragged me in there," Gwydre sighed.

"Father's gone soft," Amhar smirked. "If we can defeat this mage, surely father will choose one of us as his successor, it will most certainly be me!"

"Oh shut up Amhar!" Llacheu snapped. "If father picks among the five of us, _I_ will become king."

"Pff," Loholt laughed. "I'm _far_ more worthy to be king than all of you."

"If father chooses an heir, it's going to be Gwydre," Duran informed them.

"Me? Why me?" Gwydre asked, stupefied.

"You're the only one who doesn't want it."

"What are we going to do about the mage?" Llacheu asked.

"We're going to kill him of course!" Amhar replied.

"But father said—" Gwydre began.

"Oh, Gwydre, are you going to play the obedient son forever, look, between the five of us, Arthur's sons, this mage won't stand a chance, and we're the best of Camelot's knights!" Amhar said confidently.

"Tell that to Sir Lancelot," Llacheu smirked.

"The Knights of the Round Table haven't gone after this Archer of Red yet, we'll stop him before they do, and between the five of us, a bag of silver for whoever kill him!"

"This isn't a game, Amhar," Gwydre sighed.

"Now where's the fun in that?" Amhar laughed. "We'll leave under cover of darkness and search for this Archer."

That evening they left, and it only took them a few days to find the mysterious Archer in Red, they approached him as he walked down the road towards a nearby village.

"Halt Archer!" a voice shouted to Shirou.

Shirou turned and saw five young men approach him; they wore bright armor and had blonde hair and green eyes.

"Sa…ber…?" he asked, shocked, no, they weren't _her_ , but they all bore a strong resemblance to her, but who _were_ they?

"You will no longer terrorize these lands, Archer of Red, you will fall here!" the young man shouted.

"And who are you?" Shirou asked. He'd never seen any of these men in Arturia's memories.

"We are the sons of King Arthur, I am Amhar, but you won't care about that for long, you'll die quickly!"

 _Sons?! Saber has sons?! But the only one I've ever seen is Mordred!_

Then Shirou remembered, it was very obscure Arthurian lore that mentioned Arthur had many sons, by various women depending on the stories, but at least one of them was legitimate, but they all died under unfortunate circumstances, war and betrayal killed them all, but even then, their stories were so obscure that their names were not well known like the Knights of the Round Table.

Shirou notched an arrow that he traced, even as his hands tried to resist the Command Seal which forced him to fight.

Gwydre had fallen back, he hadn't wanted to come in the first place, but it gave him the chance to observe his brothers as they fought the Archer of Red.

"Caladbolg!" he shouted, he fired the arrow. Gwydre could see the arrow as it flew and barely missed his brothers as the aftershock blew them off their feet.

That arrow he fired, it seemed familiar, but it was like something out of a story he'd been told.

Amhar climbed to his feet, unsheathing his sword, he attacked the Archer viciously, only for him to be beaten back by the Archer, with just a short sword.

Suddenly, and quite unexpectedly, Gwydre saw that the man wielded two short swords, they were intricate and beautiful, and unlike any pair of blades he'd seen before.

Every thrust, slash, cut and parry the Archer made only had killing intent behind it.

Gwydre knew they'd foolishly gone out to die.

The man's movements, they were crisp and efficient, they hadn't been expecting an archer that could wield a sword, let alone two. But there was something else that terrified him down to his soul.

This man fought like Father, it wasn't mimicry, but he knew this man whoever he was, had been trained to fight by Father.

 _Is he one of Father's allies who betrayed him for Le Fay?_

Gwydre could only stare in awe; the man had reflexes quick as Father's and he could see flourishes of Arthur's swordplay in battle. But when had Father trained such a man, and why?

Amhar was growing frustrated, he'd disarmed this man constantly, but always he had a weapon in his hand, it was like he could pull them from thin air.

Amhar gasped in shock as the Archer short sword opened a wound in his side, all the way from his hip to his chest.

He screamed in agony.

Shirou was mortified, he hadn't wanted to wound him so gravely, but the Command Seal to kill all who tried to stop him was still in effect, but what terrified him more was how slow they were, he was so used to Saber's quick reflexes and nigh unbreakable defense that he'd forgotten that not everyone he fought had her level of skill in swordplay.

"Amhar!" Loholt screamed, "I'll kill you Archer!"

"For your father's sake, stay back, I will kill you, and I don't want to, please! Don't make me do this!"

Two of the five stepped forward to do battle with him.

Then Gwydre heard the Archer utter an incantation, one that he would never forget but would remember with terror and dread for as long as he lived.

 _"I am the bone of my sword."_

Gwydre knew in his heart, if he and his brothers remained in the vicinity of this Archer of Red, they would assuredly die.

"Retreat, everyone retreat!"

Only Duran heard him, Loholt, Llacheu, and Amhar paid him no heed, they charged straight at the Archer.

"Steel is my body and fire is my blood. I have created over a thousand blades. Unknown to Death, Nor known to Life. Have withstood pain to create many weapons. Yet, those hands will never hold anything. So as I pray, unlimited blade works."

Shirou knew this was not the true incantation of Unlimited Blade Works, but, rather, one borne of his sorrow and grief of not only the loss of his dear Saber, but the loss of his heroism that Le Fay had forced him to abandon.

Gwydre watched in awe as the world ripped itself apart, and he found himself standing on a hill of swords.

A dozen swords tore themselves out of the ground and flew at him, he managed to dodge most of them, but one embedded itself in his shoulder.

Loholt and Llacheu were skewered through their sides as they tried to make their way towards the Archer.

They were all going to die here, and their father would be deeply grieved. Gwydre gritted his teeth, he would save his brothers and they would return home.

He ran forward and grabbed Amhar and Loholt, Duran grabbed Llacheu and they ran until the world righted itself and they found their horses, they made their way back to Camelot with all speed.

Arthur had been pacing in her bedchamber, worried about her sons' departures; she knew _exactly_ what they were doing.

She looked up when a servant arrived; telling her that her sons had encountered the Archer of Red, but three of them had been gravely wounded.

"Amhar?" Arthur looked at her son in horror. His wounds were so grave, she was amazed he wasn't dead, but he was still alive by some miracle.

"Call the Court physicians! _Now_!" They took her sons away, trying to staunch the bleeding.

Suddenly, an arrow embedded itself at her feet. She stepped back and gazed up at the battlements of Camelot.

There at the top was the Archer of Red, his red coat made him stand out, along with his bright red hair, she could see his gold eyes gazing down at her, and she glanced to the arrow she had pulled from the ground.

She saw the note attached to it. Arthur opened it and read:

 _"Only the magnificent King of Knights may defeat me! I await you, my nemesis!"_

"How dare you mock me, you bastard!" Arthur screamed at the Archer. "I'll send you to Hell!"

"I can't wait to see you again, Saber, my death at your hands will be my salvation."

"Guards, catch him!" Arthur ordered.

"My Lord, he vanished!" they shouted to her as they searched for him.

Arthur clenched her fist, "You're a dead man, Archer!"


	2. The two Entwine, the Couple Perishes

**The two Entwine; the Couple Perishes**

 ** _Author's Note: I have seen t Heaven's Feel Trilogy (You heard me, TRILOGY, which means, all the love scenes will probably be there!) Trailer,_** _and I can't wait, Sempai will FINALLY notice Sakura, LOL! There was no animation, but the artwork looks lovely! You'll have to use a proxy to view it on YouTube!_

 _My timeline is very different than the 10 year timeline that the Nasuverse gives for Arturia's reign. The book I read King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table by Roger Lancelyn Green described Arthur as having gray hair by the time the battle of Camlann. Giving Arturia a good long reign just makes it worse than the relatively short one she had in the Nasuverse. So about 50 years, that's the answer I found online for how long people say Arthur ruled Britain. She still has Avalon so she doesn't age, but imagine if Nasu had given her a longer reign than 10 years, we thought her angst was bad in Fate/Zero and Fate/Stay Night, just think if her reign had been longer, triple the angst!_

* * *

 _"Shirou, can you ever forgive me?" Saber asked, leaning against his shoulder. They're sitting together under a tree, on a hill overlooking the city. He's enjoying the view, the breathtaking landscape, he can see Camelot in its shining glory below, but he relishes the sight of the beautiful woman in his arms more. He's holding her as he smiles down at the woman he loves more than anything._

 _"What do you mean?" Shirou asks curiously, "What's there to forgive?"_

 _"I know that I will stop at nothing to end your life, and even if by some miracle I spare you, I have no doubt I would have your fingers severed."_

 _"I'd rather keep my fingers, I can't touch and hold you without them," Shirou ran his fingers through her hair. He kissed her lips softly._

 _"I know Shirou; I wish I could do more for you than just speak to you in your dreams."_

 _"Tell me Saber, since this is your life I've been dragged into, do you remember both, the time period where I wasn't there, and what's going on now?"_

 _"I remember both, but I do not know what will happen to you at the moment."_

 _Saber's expression was sad and uncomfortable._

 _"And Shirou, my sister…she has mutilated you, and I know there is nothing I can really do about that. I beg your forgiveness…"_

 _Shirou laughed, "Of all the things you're sorry for, you mourn the loss of my junk!"_

 _"Shirou!" Saber scolded him, "such a horrific thing should have never happened to you. Or have you forgotten that I have been a man, and completely understand that it is quite humiliating to have ones "junk" forcibly removed. You are a wonderful lover, and that aspect of you has been taken away by_ her. _"_

 _Saber's expression was furious._

 _"It's all right, I'll get better," Shirou gave her another grin._

 _"Not that my sons will refrain from mocking you if they should see you like that. They will say that you are not a man because you have no wit."_

 _Shirou chuckled, "So_ that's _what they call it? My wit will recover, but your son Amhar will always be an ass hat."_

 _Saber kissed his cheek, "Amhar always was an ass."_

 _"So tell me, Saber, how often have you been a man? You have five sons, they don't just pop out of nowhere."_

 _"Six years, if you include Mordred, every time Guenivere and I would try conceive Merlin would turn me into a man that way no one would really notice, the Knights of the Round Table knew and they carried on as usual."_

 _"I see," Shirou gazed out at the view. "Camelot really is a lovely place."_

 _"I am glad you find my home beautiful," Saber nuzzled his neck._

 _"It's only a model," Shirou joked._

 _"Must you constantly tease me?" Saber groaned._

 _"We're Knights of the Round Table, We dance when e'er we're able  
We do routines and chorus scenes With footwork impeccable," the young mage managed to sing before bursting into a fit of laugher._

 _"You should not taunt me Shirou, or I will have Merlin feed you to a rabbit."_

 _"Really Saber, the killer Rabbit of Caerbannog?" the young mage raised an eyebrow, amused._

 _"One does not mock the Rabbit of Caerbannog! It was a miscast spell by Le Fay, she meant to summon an adorable lion cub to trap me, only something went wrong and she summoned the monster in the form of a rabbit instead."_

 _"LOOK AT THE BONES!" Shirou uttered in mock horror._

 _Saber slapped his chest, "Oh shut up! The whole adventure was so horrible; we blotted every mention of it from the records! It did slaughter my poor men, and I had to kill it with Caliburn! A few years later, she summoned it back!"_

 _"What did you do?"_

 _"I killed it with Excalibur, I suppose she gave up on summoning monsters and decided summoning Heroic Spirits would be better."_

 _"Satisfy my curiosity; is there a dragon of Angnor?"_

 _"Yes," she replied._

 _"A vicious Chicken of Bristol?"_

 _Saber playfully slapped his shoulder again, "Shut up! Shut up!"_

 _"See the violence inherent in the system! Help! Help! I'm being repressed!" He burst out laughing._

 _Shirou pulled her in for a long, lingering kiss as he embraced her again._

 _"So_ that's _how I got dragged into this mess," Shirou sighed. "You know I can't tell you the truth about me right?"_

 _"Of course, I would find it nearly impossible to believe that a man from the future is my Master and that I should become a Heroic Spirit for such a tragic reason, and that you are my lover as well, especially since I have never seen myself as a woman. I would never believe that I could be so unsatisfied by my own rule that I would wish to redo it all, let alone wish to erase my own existence."_

 _"Yeah, that whole, "I fell in love with you when I accidentally summoned you to the future in my shed" thing won't really sound believable. Let alone that the Holy Grail is corrupted and evil on top of everything else."_

 _"The Holy Grail that appeared before me in Camelot was indeed the cup of Christ; it is not the omnipotent wish-granting device that appeared in Fuyuki."_

 _"How did you learn about the Grail that appeared in Fuyuki?" Shirou asked curiously._

 _"I learned of the wish-granting Grail in my search for the Holy Grail that Christ used."_

 _"I see," Shirou took her hand in his._

 _Shirou glanced down at Saber. "Saber?"_

 _"What is it Shirou?" Saber queried._

 _"About Mordred…and May Day, that's something you actually did, it's not just some embellished story about you is it?"_

 _Shirou saw tears in Saber's eyes._

 _"It is my greatest shame," Saber whispered softly. "I did it because I was afraid; my need for self preservation was my own undoing. I gathered all the children born on May 30th, on pain of death, and sent babies of out to sea to die, and that is something I will carry with me forever. You've seen my many sins yet you still love me."_

 _"But you didn't know Mordred was a homunculus," Shirou stroked her cheek, comforting her with an embrace._

 _"No, I didn't."_

 _"You're not perfect, I thought that Christians said that only God is perfect," Shirou noted._

 _"I thought I could be a perfect king, but my foolish decisions ruined me. But we must speak of other things."_

 _"Must I wake up?" Shirou smiled._

 _"You should wake from your dreams now, Shirou," Saber smiled quietly, "Lest my sons find you asleep and you see me, much sooner than you'd like."_

 _"Am I even worthy of that honor?" Shirou's expression was sad._

 _"Yes, you are still worthy of it, what you've done is Le Fay's doing, not your own."_

 _"I love you, Saber," he leaned over and kissed her._

 _"I know," she smiled, returning his kiss. "Wake up, and leave this place, I will pursue you relentlessly."_

 _"But my goal in life is to chase you for all eternity," he smiled._

 _"And I will wait for you, for all eternity," she smiled. "I will speak to Merlin soon."_

 _"He can see you?"_

 _"He can, he's one of the few people who that know my true gender and will believe what I tell him regarding you."_

 _"That's good, Saber, that's good," Shirou mumbled._

 _She gave him one final kiss, "Wake up."_

"Saber…."

Shirou Emiya opened his eyes and looked out over the landscape. There was Camelot in all its glory and splendor, but he knew that he would never be able to enjoy it; he would never pass through its doors as a friend to the King or the Knights of the Round Table.

He turned and headed away, he would have to return to Morgan Le Fay soon, he hated it, but he didn't have a choice, she still had two Command Seals.

After stealing a horse, he returned to Tugan, Morgan Le Fay's castle, he was allowed to pass through the gates and made his way towards his Master's bedchamber.

He could hear a low moan, "Oh _Accolon!_ "

Shirou bit back a sigh; he just had to be unlucky enough to find his reprehensible Master in bed with her lover.

He opened the door; Le Fay was straddling Accolon and riding him like a pony. It was an insult to all the ponies in Britain. They both looked rather nasty covered in sweat and he wanted nothing more than to leave like that "Nope, nope, nope" octopus meme he'd seen on the internet.

"I'm sorry Master, I've interrupted something private," he tried to leave as quickly as possible.

"No, I want you to watch, just so I can remind you of the price for disobeying me," she smirked at him.

"I know the price for disobedience Master," Shirou gritted his teeth, "I don't need to be reminded of it."

"Such a pity, you could have been reunited with this Saber of yours if you had willingly joined me. You followed my orders?"

"Of course Master, I cannot disobey a Command Seal."

"You're a good dog, Archer," Le Fay smiled wickedly. She was rocking her body against her lover, "Oh that's good, I'm so _close_!"

She glared at him, "You're watching us until I'm finished, Archer!"

"A pity it's not titillating at all," Shirou smirked.

Morgan Le Fay used her magic to cause him so much pain that he collapsed in agony, groaning.

He heard her screaming as she apparently got off on his anguish.

"Get out!" Le Fay looked over and glowered at him.

" _Finally!_ " he said in relief.

Shirou staggered down the hallway.

"I feel _so_ dirty, I need brain bleach and a shower, but most of all, brain bleach!" Shirou sighed miserably.

Shirou groaned, _wishing_ Saber would kill him; a quick death by Excalibur seemed immensely preferable to watching Le Fay hump Accolon.

It was a long, miserable night. Shirou would have very little rest, drifting in and out of sleep; he strained to listen to the voice of the one he loved, who was there and yet not there, all at the same time.

* * *

King Arthur sat at Amhar's bedside; the physicians had successfully staunched the bleeding and bandaged his wounds.

"My Lord, he will live, but it will be some time before he's back on his feet."

"Good, good," Arthur said to herself.

"Father?" Amhar asked, "Is that you?"

"Yes, I am here, and you are lucky to be here too, a few more hours and you would have been beyond our aid. You should be dead, boy; this will teach you a lesson, next time you should listen to your father," Arthur rested a hand on his head.

"I try Father," Amhar insisted, "I thought that we could take him and prevent more bloodshed."

"He was too strong, there has never been anyone like him, he was a talented swordsman, not some peasant mindlessly flailing about," Amhar continued.

"Did you notice it Amhar?" Loholt asked, "That his movements and swordplay were similar to Father's?"

" _What_? _!_ " Arthur asked in astonishment.

"Yes, he fought like you Father," Amhar stared over at Arthur.

"Is he a knight who trained with Father and Sir Kay when they were children?" Gwydre asked.

"I have seen his face and I do not know him," Arthur frowned, puzzled.

It made no sense to her that she would have trained him. Perhaps it was a trick of the light her sons had seen that made it appear that he fought like her. She would think more on this unsettling subject.

"What have the physicians said about us Father?" Duran spoke up from his bed.

"The physicians have told me you will recover," Arthur smiled at them. "Now my sons, tell me of your misadventure, leave nothing unsaid! Tell me everything!"

So they told their father everything, every word the Archer uttered, every blow struck during battle.

Gwydre noticed his Father's countenance as he spoke of the Archer; she seemed puzzled that the Archer would beg them not to attack him, as if he were under a spell. Perhaps he was, but how could Arthur pardon the man's actions when hundreds of her people had died?

The Archer had begged them for Arthur's sake to not to attack him.

 _Why for my sake, I wonder,_ Arthur pondered.

 _This man is a stranger to me, it is a trick, it must be,_ Arthur put it out of her mind.

"Father, the spell he used, it was otherworldly, he could rip apart the world and we found ourselves standing on a hill of swords. He could use them at his whim and it is how we were wounded, we cannot block a dozen swords at once." Gwydre sighed. "What can we do against a being akin to a god?"

"We will defeat him, I have never known defeat, and I will not taste it now!" Arthur reassured them. "As soon as you are able, I will send you out with a scouting party Amhar."

"I thank you for your confidence in me Father, I will slay the Archer."

"I will leave you all to rest," Arthur got up and left them.

She walked down the hall towards the Round Table; the Knights were waiting for her.

"Arturia," Merlin called to her.

"Merlin? What do you want Mage of Flowers?" she asked, trying to hide her irritation at being called upon during this important meeting by her teacher.

"Arturia, I don't like this, any of it," Merlin told her, his voice was grave.

"The sooner we put an end to the Archer, the sooner we will have peace," Arthur muttered.

"Everything about that mage's presence here is wrong, but I fear killing him will have dire consequences."

"Consequences? What consequences?" Arthur asked, concerned.

"I don't know yet, but I intend to find out," Merlin bowed and left her alone.

King Arthur took her place at the Round Table; they would now discuss how to defeat the Archer of Red.


	3. The Wrought Iron Mage of Death

**Wrought-Iron Mage of Death**

 ** _Author's Note:_** _This has nothing to do with the story, but keep fanfic author Mr. Nobody or YARN in your prayers, he came really close to killing himself on 3/2/16, his family intervened and called the police, he's in a mental psych ward, it'll be some time before he's back to writing again, but man, that was close! I don't even know him or read his stories, but I feel that me praying for him saved him from killing himself. Even if you're not religious or read his stories, send him an encouraging message._

 _Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood's license by Funimation has expired on 3/31/16. Get it before it's gone and the price skyrockets, R.I.P. my favorite franchise on DVD and Blu-Ray. Aniplex, your pricing is evil!_

 _Thanks for all the wonderful feedback everyone. It's gonna get dark, but not like_ Berserk _levels dark, so don't worry, I'll still have fun, it's not gonna be super depressing or anything like that. The chapter title is a reference to my favorite author, J.R.R. Tolkien, he called Túrin Turambar's cursed sword, Gurthang, iron of death, and since Archer is the Wrought-Iron Mage, I thought, why not?_

 _Time for a little political intrigue and a shout out to DC Comics Arthurian lore!_

 _Been playing far too much Medieval II: Total War lately, when I'm not writing this, I'm trying to launch the English invasion of Spain!_

* * *

Arturia sat down at the head of the Round Table.

"I do not know what to do concerning this mage, my sons insist he did not wish to fight them. They have also told me he is a formidable warrior. Sending him to Hell would not trouble me much, but Merlin fears the consequences of such actions, and Merlin is still much wiser than I, so I shall take that into consideration."

"This man is a danger to all of Britain," Arthur glanced at the other knights, "But we will defeat him. We will bring this Archer of Red to justice! Now drink from this golden goblet and renew your oaths of chivalry and loyalty to me!"

Being Pentecost Sunday all the Knights of the Round Table gathered at Camelot to swear their oath of chivalry and to regale the king with tales of their adventures, but today was somber.

The entire Round Table had heard tales of the Archer of Red, and now they swore an oath to defeat him. Each man knew they could go to their deaths, but they would fight and die to put an end to the meaningless deaths the Archer caused.

Later that night, Arthur sat in her room, Guinevere sat beside her.

"Arthur, aren't you going to sleep?" the Queen asked.

"Guinevere, is it wrong for me to want a man's death?" Arthur asked.

"I do not know that, is it because you desire justice or revenge?" Guinevere glanced at her "husband", unsure of what to say.

"Jenny, I do not know what I want, he is a contradiction and that disturbs me," Arthur sighed, burying her face in her hands.

"You must be tired, you _never_ call me Jenny," Guinevere laughed. "Go to sleep, you will feel better in the morning."

The Queen drifted off to sleep, Arthur lay in the bed and let her eyes fall shut.

That night she dreamed of a strange sight. She was in a storage room of some sort, filled with all sorts of items she'd never seen before, but as interesting these strange sights were, she paid them no mind.

 _"_ _The Seventh Servant is here!"_ a man's voice cried out in surprise.

She could see before her a man, wielding a spear, without hesitation, Arthur struck the mysterious spearman.

Behind her, there was a young man with red hair, and bright golden eyes. Arthur sensed his presence and turned to him.

 _"_ _I ask you, are you worthy to be my Master?"_

She was shocked to see that the young man was none other than the Archer of Red! He was wearing different clothes but it was still him.

Arthur tried to protest, to deny this horrible dream, but she could not.

Instead, he stared at her in awe and she could say nothing.

 _"_ _Your Master?"_ the young man asked in utter confusion.

 _"_ _I'm your Servant Saber. I have come in response to your summons, your order Master."_

The young man winced in pain.

 _"_ _Henceforth my sword will be at your side. Your fate is now my fate. Our pact is now sealed!"_

What was this madness? She would never stoop to serve this man in _any_ capacity! And yet she could not stop the words that came from her own mouth!

She noticed that she was using Invisible Air, a spell Merlin had created to conceal Excalibur, and apparently she did not want to reveal her identity to this man, even in her dreams. That was good.

Apparently, that spearman was outside, there was a battle for her to fight. That was good, even in her dreams, she loved a good fight, and this man would be a worthy opponent, even if it had to mean serving _him_.

Arthur sprang out of the shed, viciously striking the spearman. He was a skilled warrior, but she knew she surpassed him in every way.

The blows were deadly and brutal, and she was relishing every minute of it. After all, it had been a long time since she'd had such an interesting dream, she was going to enjoy it, even if that mage was in it.

 _"_ _Wait, what do you mean by "our pact"?!"_ the mage shouted, there was confusion in his voice.

She didn't have time to talk to him; she needed to kill this spearman.

Each, lunch, thrust and slash could end her life, but she blocked and parried every blow. The two warriors parted, she prepared to attack him.

Arthur launched herself straight at the spearman. They exchanged blows so furious that they could barely be seen with human eyes. He was good, this spearman, he'd kept up with her, meeting her blow for blow.

She leapt at him and he managed to avoid her attack. Running in a zigza, g pattern, he thrust his spear at her; she batted it into the air, kicking up rocks and dirt.

She slashed and hacked at the spearman, hacking at him with her sword.

Beating him back across the yard, she looked for an opening, he didn't give her one, but she launched herself at him, spinning in the air to give herself extra speed and power, still she did not break his guard, much to her irritation.

The spearman sprang away from her. Arthur assumed a ready stance, prepared for his next attack.

 _"Who do you think you are?! Concealing your weapon like some kind of a coward?!"_ the spearman demanded.

She slashed at him again. He jumped away.

 _"_ _What is wrong Lancer? Standing there will give spearmen a bad name. If you shall not come to me, I shall go to you!"_

 _Lancer is a class of some sort, interesting,_ Arthur thought to herself, since she was the observer in her own head, she might as well watch and enjoy the show.

 _"_ _Before you do, let me ask you this, is a sword your Noble Phantasm?"_ Lancer queried.

 _"_ _Perhaps,"_ Arthur replied. _"Perhaps not, it may be a battleaxe or a pole arm."_

She held her sword upright. _"Or it might even be a bow, or a weapon like yours Lancer."_

Lancer smirked, " _Very funny, swordsman!"_ He brandished his spear with a flurry.

He assumed an offensive stance she had never seen before.

 _"_ _What is that stance?"_ the mage asked in confusion.

 _"_ _I have one more question for you, since this is our first meeting, would you like to just call it a draw?"_

 _"_ _I think not, you will fall here, Lancer, and you know it!"_ Arthur replied.

 _"Is that so, damn, my objective was simply to observe,"_ he sighed.

With a grunt, he held his spear and Arthur watched as it glowed bright red.

 _"Ready or not, I shall come to take your life!"_ he shouted. He sprang forward, firmly planting one foot in the ground and launching the spear at her feet.

 _"_ _Gae…bolg!"_

The red light was beautiful and brilliant, and even though it had been launched at her feet, the spear zigzagged until it was aimed at her heart. She blocked it, but the power was so immense that even Excalibur itself could not completely block it.

 _Where is Avalon?_ Arthur thought. _Avalon would render this power useless, and why am I so weak?_

Suddenly, the blade reversed itself; Arthur barely managed to move a little before it pierced her shoulder rather than her heart. She was knocked off her feet and landed in a sitting position.

 _"You're very lucky Saber, you dodged my ultimate blow!"_

Arthur glanced at him, _"A curse?! No, wait, the blow reverses cause and effect?! That's Gae Bolg, you must be Ireland's Child of Light!"_

 _"Damn, I really messed up,"_ Cú Chulain sighed, _"If I use that, it has to be fatal or I'm in big trouble."_

Arthur gasped in surprise.

 _"My Master is somewhat of a coward you see, you dodged my spear so he's ordering me to retreat now."_

 _"You're running away?!"_ Arthur shouted; she had never viewed the Hound of Chulain as a coward. He was walking away.

 _"Feel free to follow,"_ he glanced back at her. _"But if you do you'd better prepare yourself to die!_ " He sprang away, disappearing into the night.

Arthur moved to follow him.

 _"_ _Is she some kind of idiot?!"_ her "Master" asked. He ran towards her.

 _"_ _Hey, are you all right?"_ Arthur was confused as to why the Mage of Red would be concerned for her well being.

She felt her wound closing, apparently, the contract was useful to her.

 _"_ _Oh my God, what the Hell are you?!"_ he seemed terrified. She enjoyed that a little too much.

 _"_ _As you can see, I am your Saber class Servant. As such, could you please call me Saber?'_

" _My name is…_ " he replied. The mage stated his name again, but try as she might, she could not hear it.

Besides, it was just a dream; it was something that could never happen.

* * *

Shirou sighed, contemplating everything that had happened to him.

He remembered the torture, the flogging, beatings, the rack, and the Judas Cradle, but worst of all, the castration.

The pain had been overwhelming, feeling the knife rip through muscle and tissue and the organ, as the torturer removed it.

Shirou had never screamed in so much, the pain was so great, but he knew that Avalon was keeping him alive, as tenuous as that bond with Saber was in this era where they had never met.

He sighed, surely there was some way for him to break the Command Seals binding him to Le Fay, but he couldn't remember it, all the pain and suffering had muddled his brain, he needed to concentrate and think with a clear head.

Shirou drifted off to sleep.

 _"Shirou? Must you always sleep?" Saber asked, running her fingers through his hair. He was lying down with his head in her lap as she knelt next to him in the fields of gold._

 _"Shirou, I recall reading what people say about me, and Le Fay, I can't help but feel like, they are right somehow."_

 _Shirou glanced up at her._

 _Saber, this isn't like_ Narn i Chîn Húrin _where the siblings Nienor and Túrin Turambar married each other not knowing they were related! You didn't marry Le Fay! And you didn't sleep with her!"_

 _"I was completely aware of myself when she stole the sperm from me, it wasn't sex, but it sure felt like it."_

 _"You're far too hard on yourself, you know."_

 _She took his hand in hers._

 _"You're always referencing stories and books I've never read."_

 _"Really Saber, you didn't read any of the stories by J.R.R. Tolkien on my shelf?"_

 _"Fictional stories were the last thing on my mind, Shirou," Saber smiled._

 _"When we get this sorted out, I'll let you borrow them, he's one of Britain's greatest authors, you'd like his stories."_

 _"I'm sure that I would, these stories appeal to the things I enjoy. Tales of adventures please me very much."_

 _Shirou sat up._

 _"We'll be together again soon, but I have to break the contract I have with Le Fay."_

 _"She's coming, you should wake before she decides to kick you," Saber kissed his mouth sweetly._

 _"I'd rather not have her ruin my dreams," Shirou stroked her cheek. "Until I see you again with my own eyes."_

 _"Until we met again," Saber smiled. "You'll forgive me if I try to kill you."_

 _"Of course, Arturia. There is nothing for me to forgive."_

"Wake up, Archer!" Morgan Le Fay called to him in a gruff tone of voice.

"What do you want Master?" Shirou asked crossly.

"Tell me, Archer, what is your name?"

The witch stared down at him.

"Beren Erchamion," Archer replied.

Morgan Le Fay blew him back with her magic, sending him crashing through a wall.

"You lie! That is not your name!"

"It may not be, but I'm of little importance, I am neither renowned as a great warrior nor counted among the very wise."

Shirou started laughing. He folded his arms.

"No Master, I won't give you my name, you are still my enemy. By telling an enemy your name, you give them an opportunity to capture your soul, and if they then learn the date of your birth, they can find a way to own the paths of your past and your future."

Morgan le Fay backhanded him.

"You will tell me your name or—"

"You'll what? Torture me some more?" Shirou rolled his eyes at her.

The witch snarled angrily. "Perhaps I will humiliate you further, and compel you by Command Seal to do whatever I say, then you would pleasure me with that defiant mouth of yours, I'd enjoy it very much."

"Master, Command Seals are precious, and you would waste them for such a petty reason?" Shirou wished she _would_ waste it; at least he could spit her out of his mouth.

"I could, but I'd rather you make my sister suffer more, it's almost a pity I cut your thing off, as well endowed as you were, I could have enjoyed having you in my bed."

"You despicable letch, go help your lover choke a chicken!" Shirou grabbed her by the neck. She brushed him off.

She seemed to understand the metaphor and chuckled.

"Perhaps using a Command Seal for absolute obedience from you would be worth it. I ask you again, what is your name?"

"Túrin Turambar," Shirou smirked.

"I _will_ compel you to do whatever I say!" Le Fay raised her hand to give him an unbreakable order.

"Listen to me; Command Seals compel a Servant to perform a specific action! For example, when you ordered me to kill all those people. The three seals are a crystallization of high magic, overcoming the limits of flesh and blood."

"I know this," Le Fay snapped, gesturing at him. "I do not need lectures from a mere Servant!"

"With vaguely worded orders, Command Seals are less effective. Even 100 Command Seals could not cause true obedience in all words and actions."

The Wrought-Iron Mage clenched his fist, "Besides, I would _never_ willingly obey you!"

"Not even to see this precious Saber of yours?" Le Fay smirked, not knowing that she spoke of her own half sister.

"Most definitely not, if obeying you meant I could see her again, I'd rather die than obey the likes of you!"

Le Fay was about to lose her temper when a servant approached her.

"My Lady, Jason Blood is here to see you," the servant informed her after he bowed.

"Send him in, Archer, leave us!" Le Fay ordered him. He turned on his heel and left, rounding a corner, but not before he peeked back over at her when she'd turned away from him.

Shirou saw a young man with red and white hair come walking in. Le Fay ran to him and embraced him as their lips met in a passionate kiss.

Shrou rolled his eyes, what a harlot! She was playing this guy too!

"I'm sorry, but I had to see you!" Jason told her eagerly. "I love you most and best, you are the fairest and most beautiful woman in the land!"

"I have missed you Jason," she purred sweetly in his ear, she moved away and kissed his lips.

The knight was overjoyed.

 _He bought it; I can't believe it, what a shmuck!_ Shirou laughed to himself. He behind a wall so he could facepalm properly

"But what of Accolon? And your husband King Urience?"

Le Fay laughed, "He is merely an amusement, and my husband is ignorant and knows nothing. I have always been fond of you. You must act quickly."

"What must I do? Shall I open the gates of Camelot when you attack?"

"No, that is far too obvious; instead, you will steal the King's scabbard and replace it with this."

Le Fay held out a perfect replica of Avalon, except Shirou felt no magic emanating from it. It was the perfect trap, and Arthur wouldn't know the difference just by looking at it.

She was a devious one, his Master Morgan Le Fay.

"Jason, go back to Camelot and offer to clean the King's scabbard, he's too naïve and judges everything at face value, he will gladly give it to you, then replace it with this and return here with Avalon."

"Of course Morgan Le Fay, and after Arthur is brought low, you and I will rule Camelot together."

"Yes, we will," she replied.

Jason Blood hurried out the door. Morgan Le Fay departed, chuckling to herself.

She showed him her crystal ball. "Archer, do you see that little girl?"

"Yes, I do, Master."

"I will kill that little girl, with a slow, agonizing death unless you go out and slay everyone in a nearby village." She laughed at him. "What's the matter, don't you want to _save_ her?"

Shirou clenched his fists, "I hear and obey, Master."

He began to walk out, still, he tred to think of a way to escape. His reputation was growing, people all over refered to him as the Wrought-Iron Mage of Death, and he hated it.

Shrou was torn between what to do. Going after Jason Blood wouldn't work, Le Fay would summon him back, and probably lock him away where he couldn't leave. Being a normal human, he could not take a spiritual form like a proper Heroic Spirit.

The witch also watched him constantly so he could not send messenger birds to Camelot to warn anyone.

He was between a rock and a hard place, that much was sure.

His highest priority was to think of a way to completely sever his contract with Morgan Le Fay. There was a way, but he just couldn't find it.

He drifted into his thoughts, searching for the answer that would set him free from Morgan Le Fay, he would be reunited with Saber, he wouldn't be under Morgan Le Fay's thumb forever. He would find the way out.


	4. The First Spear of Fianna and the Archer

**The First Spear of Fianna and the Archer of Red**

 ** _Author's Note:_** _Thank you so much for all the feedback and suggestions! I'm just so surprised that I've got a huge following for this. Where do you people all come from anyway? LOL, the Fate/Stay Night fanfic section is rather small, so it makes me happy you're all enjoying this._

 _I have no idea how I'll top this fight scene._

 _Now time for me to rant:_

 _Everyone going, "Why doesn't Shirou use Rule Breaker?", I'm using the_ Fate Route _as the basis for Shirou's past, and for all the UBW anime fans who refuse to watch the Fate 2006 route or haven't read the VN,_ Shirou never saw it in use in Saber's route! UGH _! And some people forget, Shirou_ always _makes things unnecessarily hard for himself, like Projection magic, when he fried his nerves to make new circuits because of his inadequate training. I saw the Rule Breaker suggestion the first time, and yes, I'm incorporating it into this chapter, so please put a sock in it!_

 _If you're gonna be a douche to me and say my story doesn't make sense because I didn't do "X", I will ignore you, and probably do the opposite of whatever you're suggesting. Suggestions are nice, but_ you _aren't writing this story,_ I _am! If someone's suggested Shirou use "X", then I've seen it already and might incorporate it into the story, so read the reviews before leaving a suggestion!_

 _To quote Auron, "This is_ my story, _and you're not part of it!" Well, writing it anyway._

 _My rant is now over. Sorry this took so long, now I'm off to write a scathing review of Batman V. Superman!_

 _The song Shirou sings is a real bawdy song! You can look it up on the internet._

 _I love you Fate fans for all the wonderful ideas and pointers and stuff, so here's another chapter for you guys._

 _This is not in the DC Comics crossover section, because Jason Blood isn't that important in this story; he's a side character, not the main one, he's leaving after Chapter Six!_

 _I'm starting Fate/Kalied Liner Prisma Illiya because I heard 3Rei Shirou is amazing! Got three seasons to catch up on!_ _Bet you didn't see this one coming: I love Diarmuid Ua Duibhne! If I were to pair Saber with someone else besides Shirou, it would be Diarmuid! A duel between my favorite dual wielders in the Fate franchise must ensue!_

* * *

Jason Blood dismounted his horse after he arrived at Camelot, the false Avalon hidden away in the folds of his cloak. He made his way inside, trying to act natural and not arouse suspicion.

"Greetings, Jason Blood, where have you been, on some adventure I hope?"

Jason turned to see Loholt staring at him.

"Oh no, no adventures today I'm afraid," he turned and left.

"Duran, did you notice he seems nervous about something?"

"Yes, but what could it be?" Duran frowned.

"It's probably a woman," Loholt laughed.

"With you brother, it's _always_ women, come on, let's go find some wine, I could use a drink!" Duran left, and so the two princes went off in search of a drink.

Jason crept to the armory, when Arthur was not in public or attending his kingly duties, his weapons and armor were secure in the armory.

"What business have you here?" the guard asked.

"The arming squire is sick so I've come to clean the armor and weapons."

"Go find another arming squire then," the guard frowned, that was unusual.

"It is the king's armor and weapons, not just anyone should clean them."

The guard knew of Jason Blood, he seemed to be a good and honest man, so why would he lie?

"Go inside," the guard opened the armory door.

Jason went inside and quickly spotted the king's scabbard for Excalibur; he quickly picked it up, and removed the false Avalon from inside his cloak. It had the same weight and feel of the real thing, but did not have any of the magical capabilities, the truth wouldn't be known until the king went into battle, as Arthur could actually be injured and killed without Avalon with him.

Jason pretended to clean the scabbard in order to make them believe that it was the genuine article. Putting it away he left quietly.

Much to Jason's surprise, King Arthur was walking toward the armory. Jason bowed.

"My King, I'm surprised you are here!"

"Merlin has healed my sons since they insist I not wait around for them to recover before tracking down the Archer of Red. We will need you Jason. Every able bodied knight is key to defeating him."

"I'm honored that you would say that of me, your highness," Jason replied.

"You are a good friend Jason Blood, one of my best knights," Arthur told him.

"I best leave you to your duties, my lord," Jason bowed and left, only quickening his pace when he got to his horse and rode away from Camelot.

Arthur entered the armory and gathered her armor and weapons.

Arthur took up Avalon and sheathed her sword, once she confronted the Archer of Red, he would not stand a chance against her. She would send him to Hell just as she had promised him.

Still, there was an ominous feeling in the air, and she didn't know why.

Jason Blood slipped away late that evening, he knew that his place on the throne was assured, and Arthur would fall, still, he too felt the ominous feeling in the air, he ignored it, everything was going as planned, and nothing would stop their success.

* * *

Shirou Emiya was miserable. He thought he could save the child and the village all with one clever plan. But he failed.

He tracked down a wild boar and killed it, dipping his coat in its blood and soiling his pants and boots in order to deceive Morgan Le Fay.

When he returned to her castle, she threw down the child's corpse down at his feet and laughed at him.

"But I did what you said!" he screamed at her.

She laughed at him, "You thought you could deceive me? No, I watch you whether you leave this castle or not. I had no intention of sparing the child, and that nearby village? The Saxons wiped it out weeks ago, she was the only survivor. Still it was _so_ sweet of you to try to save her, it was adorable!"

He rushed at her, and grabbed her by the throat before she could react. He had only one thought: Kill Morgan Le Fay.

He tried to choke the life out of her, keyword: tried.

Before he could get a better grip, Le Fay managed to gasp, "By my second command seal: Transport away from here!" and he disappeared from her castle, smashing into a tree, he lost consciousness.

 _Shirou dreamed of her again, but instead of being in the golden fields of Avalon, they were in the Emiya dojo, Saber was pointing a shinai at him._

 _"Shirou? How could you waste the opportunity for Le Fay to squander a Command Seal?" Saber glared at him._

 _"I didn't want to be compelled to obey her!" Shirou protested. "You know how that would make me feel! Besides, I got her to waste one already."_

 _"_ That's _what you were worried about? How I would feel about what you'd do with her concerning her own lust? It wouldn't concern me back then! And then you stupidly explained to her that it wouldn't work anyway!"_

 _Shirou slapped himself, "Oh God, I sound my times Archer!"_

 _"I know it would be very pragmatic to let her use a Command Seal to compel "absolute obedience", but I was thinking about you. How would you feel if I tell you everything, and you believe me, then she comes back with, "well he did me, and he enjoyed it."_

 _"Just because you'd do things with her doesn't mean you'd enjoy it," Saber smirked._

 _"Saber, as King Arthur, you think like a_ guy _, and back then, the men were well known for being allowed to enjoy it, no matter what the Church says to the contrary!"_

 _"The only place men were allowed to "enjoy it" was a house of ill repute," Saber sighed. "Only single men are allowed in there."_

 _"It's quite easy to lie, take off the ring, and head to the next town and say, "I'm single!"_

 _"Even if you were married you're not allowed to enjoy it."_

 _"Yeah, right, tell that to all the people who wrote all those bawdy songs," Shirou said sarcastically._

 _"What would you know of bawdy songs, Shirou?" Saber raised an eyebrow._

 _"_ _She lay all naked on her bed and I myself lay by;_  
 _No veil but curtains about her spread, no covering but I.  
Her head upon her shoulder seeks to hang in careless wise,  
And full of blushes were her cheeks, and of wishes were her eyes," he grinned._

 _"_ _Cute," Saber smirked._

 _"_ _Very funny," Shirou glanced at her. "You say you wouldn't care if I was coerced into her bed via Command Seal, but I would, because I care about you."_

 _"_ _Your loyalty to me is sweet and romantic, but it is still far more pragmatic for her to waste her Command Seal, even if that would mean physical infidelity to me, you know I forgive you for things that are out of your own control, it's not like you want to do those things with her."_

 _"_ _I know Saber, it's just hard, knowing that I am with you in your own time, it's difficult, especially because you know nothing of the relationship we have and what it means to me."_

 _"_ _You worry too much, Shirou, she forces you to do things against your will, it cannot be helped."_

 _"_ _I like my dreams more when you're_ not _chastising me," Shirou reached out and stroked her cheek._

 _"_ _I only chastise you when you do something boneheaded, Shirou. If you would have let her waste one on absolute obedience then when you nearly strangled her, she would have cut her ties with you."_

 _Shirou sighed, "I got lucky trying to strangle her, that's all."_

 _"_ _You should wake up, Diarmuid Ua Duibhne approaches!"_

 _"Can I not rest?" Shirou sighed in frustration._

 _"Unfortunately no, now wake up, Shirou," Saber squeezed his hand._

"Why me…?" Shirou groaned as he opened his eyes.

Shiour could see the stunningly handsome Diarmuid Ua Duibhne approaching him. The knight was carrying a deer over his shoulder; apparently, he had just finished hunting for his next meal.

Diarmuid noticed Shirou and smiled, he appeared to be friendly.

"Good morning!" Diarumuid greeted Shirou.

"What do you mean?" Shirou asked. "Do you wish me a good morning, or mean that it is a good morning whether I want it or not; or that you feel good this particular morning; or that it is a morning to be good on?"

"All of them at once, I suppose!" the spearman laughed.

"Do you want some help with that?" Shirou queried. Deer meat always tasted good if cooked properly.

"Do you cook, friend?"

"Yes."

"Then help me prepare this deer, that we may share an excellent meal," Diarmuid offered.

"I'm not a nobleman that I should enjoy such delicious food," Shirou sighed.

"But you are a mage, and mages are a class all their own, Archer of Red."

"I'm surprised that the famous First Spear of Fianna, Diarmuid Ua Duibhne would know of me. I am no one of consequence."

"The infamy of the Archer of Red has reached the shores of Ireland. 'Tis why I came here, in search of an adventure."

"Adventures, nasty, disturbing, uncomfortable things, makes you late for dinner," Shirou tried to keep a serious expression on his face, but burst out laughing.

"It will take some time, but we should cook this," Shirou suggested.

So they continued preparing the venison and Shirou asked Diarmuid for stories of his adventures. As the knight regaled him with tales of his heroism, Shirou smiled, he wondered what it would have been like to summon him as a Servant. Shirou knew he had been summoned in the Fourth Holy Grail War, but he knew little else about what he'd done during it.

So they ate and drank and laughed together, if anyone had seen them, they would have thought that they were good friends and not merely acquaintances preparing to fight to the death.

Morgan Le Fay had let him take his survival bag with him, not wanting to waste a Command Seal on summoning him, although he tried to pursaude her that it was far more practical that way, she ignored him.

Still, if he had taken the bag, there would be no sake to share with Diarmuid.

They drank a few cups, and Shirou felt tipsy, he was going to regret that, but he didn't care.

"Have you heard, " _As she Lay all Naked in her Bed_?" Shirou slurred, feeling tipsy.

"Can't say, sing it for me," Diarmuid replied, slapping him on the back.

So Shirou sang:

 _She lay all naked on her bed and I myself lay by;_  
 _No veil but curtains about her spread, no covering but I.  
Her head upon her shoulder seeks to hang in careless wise,  
And full of blushes were her cheeks, and of wishes were her eyes._

 _Her blood still fresh into her face, as on a message came,  
To say that in another place it meant another game.  
Her cherry lip moist, plump and fair, millions of kisses crown,  
Which ripe and uncropt dangled there and weighed the branches down._

 _Her breasts, that well'd so plump and high, bread pleasant pain in me.  
For all the world I do defy the like felicity;_

 _Her thighs and belly, soft and fair, to me were only shown:  
To see such meat, and not to eat, would anger any stone.  
She lay all naked on her bed and I myself lay by;  
No veil but curtains about her spread, no covering but I. _

_Her head upon her shoulder seeks to hang in careless wise,  
And full of blushes were her cheeks, and of wishes were her eyes.  
Her blood still fresh into her face, as on a message came,  
To say that in another place it meant another game. _

_Her cherry lip moist, plump and fair, millions of kisses crown,  
Which ripe and uncropt dangled there and weighed the branches down.  
Her breasts, that well'd so plump and high, bread pleasant pain in me.  
For all the world I do defy the like felicity; _

_Her thighs and belly, soft and fair, to me were only shown:  
To see such meat, and not to eat, would anger any stone._

 _Her knees lay upward gently bent, and all lay hollow under,  
As if on easy terms, they meant to fall unforc'd asunder;  
Just so the Cyprian Queen did lie, expecting in her bower,  
When too long stay had kept the boy beyond his promis'd hour. _

_"Dull clown" quoth she, "Why dost delay such proffer'd bliss to take?  
Canst thou find out no other way similitudes to make?"  
Mad with delight I, thundering, threw my arms about her,  
But pox upon't 'twas but a dream, and so I lay without her. _

The First Spear of Fianna laughed, "Do you have such rotten luck with women, Archer of Red?"

"No, not really, it's not that I chased the skirts back home, it's more like the skirts chased me!" Shirou laughed.

"Ah, so I see, such a pity that we'll have to fight after we eat this excellent meal you've cooked!"

"There's no need to rush, we can enjoy dessert afterwards."

"Are you always so easygoing?"

"Well, you are the first person who hasn't tried to kill me on sight," Shirou laughed.

They finished their meal.

Shirou pulled out some chocolate he had in his bag. There were no refrigerators, so he had to eat it or give it away, he chose to eat some and give it away.

"This is what we call chocolate, it's a sweet confection that won't come to Europe for quite some time, you could say it's a nonexistent novelty here."

Diarmuid ate some, he'd never tasted something so sweet, it was quite pleasant.

Shirou gave him a box, he opened it and he saw strange pieces that looked similar to what he'd eaten.

"This is that "chocolate" you shared with me, yes?" Diarmuid stared at the small box.

"It makes an excellent present, girls go crazy over the stuff," Shirou laughed.

"Is it a love potion?"

"No, not at all, girls love sweets, it's quite simple." Shrou laughed. "Give it to Grainne."

Diarmuid was shocked that the Archer of Red knew about Grainne, but then again, he _was_ a mage.

"I thank you for this gift. You seem a decent fellow, I hate to kill you."

"You seem a decent fellow, I hate to die," Shirou replied.

"It is not an honorable fight without a proper exchange of names."

"My name is Shirou, Shirou Emiya," the Archer told the spearman.

"Begin," Diarmuid challenged him. Diarmuid held up Gáe Dearg and Gáe Buidhe. He attacked Shirou Emiya.

Diarmuid swung his spears as one swings a warhammer, Shirou jumped back avoiding the melee weapons as a short sword appeared in his right hand.

Thrusting his red spear out, Diarmuid watched Shirou avoid it as he swerved out of its path.

Slashing at him again, the First Spear of Fianna cut down at tree as the Archer of Red somersaulted off of it, using the high from the jump to slam his short sword down on him, Diarmuid blocked it with Gáe Buidhe.

Shirou sprang away, only to charge at him with incredible speed. Diarmuid dropped Gáe Buidhe and used Gáe Dearg to bat away Shirou's vicious thrusts.

He knew that Gáe Dearg could cut through magical weapons, he watched as the short sword shattered in Shirou's hands.

He would take full advantage of this—

 _"Trace, on!_ "

More blows were exchanged, Diarmued barely managed to avoid Shirou's horizontal slashes.

Diarmuid sprang back to give himself some distance.

Shirou rushed straight at him. Diarmuid smiled, the Archer's overconfidence would end his life. He kicked up Gáe Buidhe and prepared to sever Shirou's hands.

Suddenly, a spear batted Gáe Buidhe out of his path. It vanished before he could see what it was.

Shiorou jumped backwards, high into the air and fired a quick succession of arrows.

Diarmuid barely managed to block them all with Gáe Dearg.

The Spearman threw Gáe Dearg just as Shirou landed on his feet. The weapon would hit him head on.

A glow of mana surrounded Shirou Emiya.

 _"I am the bone of my sword."_

Mana took the form of a crimson flower with seven pedals.

 _"Rho Aias!"_

The legendary shield used during the Trojan War appeared as a seven layered shield made of mana.

Diarmuid realized his mistake; he should have thrown Gáe Buidhe instead. It would have penetrated the shield, but he couldn't do that now, he would be weaponless.

This Archer was truly extraordinary.

Gáe Dearg dropped and Rho Aias vanished.

Diarumuid saw the bow appear in Shirou's hand and he strung an arrow, it was a strange arrow, it looked—

Like a sword, this was a far more powerful attack than the arrows he deflected earlier.

 _"I am the bone of my sword."_

"Caladbolg!"

Not only was Shirou a master swordsman, but his archery skills surpassed that of any he'd seen anywhere.

Diarmuid barely managed to avoid the arrow, the explosion blew him off his feet; he managed to right himself.

"It's only fair, that I end this duel as a spearman," Shirou told him.

"I've always wondered what it would be like if _he_ fought you."

The Archer held out his hand.

" _Trace, on!_ "

Diarmuid gaped in awe as he saw a spear appear before him. He had heard stories of it and its wielder, but he had never met or battled Cú Chulainn, but he knew the tales of Gáe Bolg.

"That's impossible!" Diarmuid exclaimed.

"No it's not; I can say that I'm one of the few people who fought against the Hound of Chulainn and survived, but not because of my own skill. He has killed me before."

Diarmuid was shocked, was this man immortal that not even death affected him?

Shirou slashed at him thrusting Gáe Bolg straight at Diarmuid's midsection. Dairmuid blocked it with Gáe Dearg.

Leaping up, he watched as Shirou slammed Gáe Bolg into the ground, where it was embedded in the dirt. The spearman stood on the spear, preventing Shirou from using it.

"Gotcha!" Diarmuid exclaimed. He swung Gáe Buidhe, if he cut Shirou's throat, he would die instantly, even if he was wounded, the cursed spear inflicted wounds that would never heal unless the someone broke the spear.

Suddenly, Shirou let go of the handle, somersaulting backward, he kicked at Diarmuid.

Shirou had seen this maneuver in his dreams, the dreams of the Fifth Holy Grail War, one where Saber's battle with Berserker did not include him getting his stomach blown out. This was the move that Hercules did to avoid Saber's blade.

Shirou swept his legs out in front of him; Diarmuid continued to move backwards, even as Shirou kicked him in the midsection, sending him flying into a nearby tree. Shirou picked up Gáe Bolg and used it like a pole vault to launch himself into the air, pulling it out of the ground; he slammed it down as Diarmuid used both his spears to parry the blow. Shirou whirled around and kicked him into the air.

Diiarmuid planted Gáe Dearg into the ground to steady his balance in mid air, even as he thrust Gáe Buidhe at Shirou, who barely managed to avoid the kick.

Shirou jumped back and assumed a stance that Diarmuid had heard stories about. "I'm sorry to do this to you, but I've got to go," Shirou smiled,

"But it has been fun, I'd rather destroy a stained glass window rather than an artist such as yourself, but since I can't have you following me," he concentrated his mana.

Diarmuid saw the red spear begin to glow. Launching himself forward, he planted his feet into the ground, aiming the spear at Diarmuid's feet.

 _"Gáe Bolg!"_ _"_

 _Damn!"_ Diarmuid exclaimed. Gáe Bolg, the spear whose curse brings certain death, this might have been an imitation, but it might as well have been the real thing.

How was he going to dodge this one? There was only one thing to do, take it head on. He held up Gáe Buidhe and began to spin it rapidly, creating a barrier between the spear and himself.

He threw Gáe Dearg, causing the red spear to ricochet off a tree and fly back at the imitation of Cú Chulainn's spear. Both spears collided, Gáe Dearg, knocked Gáe Bolg off course just as it was about to reach his heart.

Diarmuid pulled the imitation of Gáe Bolg out of his body. It hit him in the shoulder instead of the heart. He watched it vanish into thin air.

He glanced around but he Archer of Red was long gone. "Am I a lucky man, or what?" he asked himself.

Now he had to get back to Grainne. He picked up the small box of chocolates. At least he'd have an exciting adventure to tell her, and he hoped that his present for her would be worth it.

* * *

After two days of traveling on foot, Shirou collapsed against a tree, setting his bag down. He drifted off to sleep.

 _Shirou recognized this dream, it was a dream of the Holy Grail War, but not the one he had survived, but one of the endless possibilities of what could happen, what might have happened in some other universe._

 _"Are you listening to me, boy? You have no chance of winning! This is my generous offer to serve me next to Saber."_

 _Shirou clenched his teeth._

 _"You let Fuji-nee go!"_

 _"Were you not listening to what I just said? Surrender and she goes free, you're mine!"_

 _"The Hell I am! I said let her go!"_

 _"So you have no interest in working with another Master?"_

 _"I have no interest in working with you!"_

 _"it appears I got on your bad side somehow. That really is tragic. If you had decided to work with me, I would have been more than willing to share the Grail with you."_

 _"You got the wrong idea about me," Shirou snapped. "I decided to fight in this War to stop people like you from winning. The Grail has nothing to do with this!"_

 _Caster laughed._

 _"What's so funny?"_

 _"My, must have touched a nerve. But you've only yourself to blame, saying things you know in your heart aren't true. After all, you're a victim of the Grail yourself. The Grail has nothing to do with this? Even the act of saying_ _those words exposes how much hatred you truly hold for it."_

 _Tohsaka looked at him, "Is that true?"_

 _"You can't hide anything from me. I know what's in your past, and I know that you lost everything in the last War. I know how you were found by Kiritsugu, alone and surrounded by flames, doing nothing more than waiting to die!"_

 _Tohsaka was shocked._

 _"how you must have suffered, adopted for the sole purpose of the next war and having magic training forced upon you!"_

 _Rin Tohsaka looked at him, "No way! Emiya, is any of that true?"_

 _Caster hovered in the air, "Ah yes, the Grail has always been a focal point and a constant enemy to you. It is for that very reason you have every right to claim the Grail as compensation for what happened! And the Grail is as good as mine as I'm sure you can imagine. It would be child's play to grant your wish if you said the word!"_

 _"Stop this nonsense!" Saber shouted, "Everyone knows the Grail will not appear until one Servant alone stands victorious!"_

 _"Not true! I know of a way to claim the Grail without engaging in any battles, it's a useful gift I have. I sense the inner workings of the Grail. That's right! And if you with your powerful mana output were to assist me with this task, I believe I could create the power to summon the Holy Grail right now!"_

 _Saber and Rin gasp in shock._

 _"This is your last chance boy!"_

 _Shirou can see that her golems are preparing to attack them._

 _"You wish to avoid senseless fighting right? Then come and serve me, Saber's Master!"_

 _Shirou can see the mana wires wrapped around Fuji-nee's throat, ready to strangle her at anytime._

 _"Not a chance! I will never submit to you!"_

 _Caster gasped, surprised, "Have you gone insane?! Do you have any understanding of the position that you're in?!"_

 _"I won't help a witch who views people as nothing more than food! Your methods are vile and wrong! And another thing, I didn't become a mage because somebody else forced me._ _It was my chice to do this, to follow the old man's footsteps!"_

 _"A witch?!" Caster snarled. "You just chose to call me a witch?! So I have no use for you then! You will now die here!"_

 _She prepared to blast them with mana._

 _"Why you—!" Saber prepared to attack._

 _"no, stop! Don't move! I beg you, just stay where you are!" he pleaded with Saber._

 _"Shirou, but she—" Saber protested._

 _Shirou walked slowly towards Caster._

 _"Oh my, I did wonder if you were completely irrational, but you do understand your situation, don't you boy?"_

 _A strange knife appeared in her hands, he hadn't ever seen it before when he had seen her during the Fifth Holy Grail War._

 _"You're a coward!" Tohsaka shouted. "You can't just kill Shirou in cold blood!"_

 _"Of course not, I'm merely stripping him of his status as a Master!"_

 _Saber gasped in horror._

 _"You reject my overtures to join me, but you still wish to save this girl," Caster observed. That tells me you are prepared to hand over your Command Seals."_

 _"All right and how do I do that?"_

 _"NO, you can't!" Saber protested, "Even if you do she'll—"_

 _"Yes that's right, I'll just take them arm and all!"_

 _The mage gasped, unprepared for that._

 _"That's enough of this!" Saber shouted, "Shirou, I won't allow you to continue to play into Caster's hands!"_

 _Ther's no way we're letting this happen! Besides, do you honestly believe she'd release a hostage that easily?!" Tohsaka agreed with Saber._

 _"Take it! It's what you want!" Shirou shouted._

 _Shirou couldn't help but smack himself. Past Shirou was such a bonehead. With Saber's skills, she could distract Caster long enough for them to rescue Fuji-Nee, but no, he had to take the hardest route possible to rescue her._

 _"NO!" Saber protested vehemently, she would not become Caster's Servant!_

 _"Damn it, Shirou! You don't have to go to such extremes like that to help others!" Rin shouted at him._

 _"I do!" Shirou shouted, "If my arm can help save Fuji-nee, then I don't even have to think twice!"_

 _Caster cackled in delight, "You're a truly foolish child! And you're quite a nuisance as well. Now it's time to die!"_

 _She swooped down at Shirou, attacking him._

 _Saber batted Caster away, knocking her back into the air as they started to fight, the wires around Taiga Fujimura's throat tightend as she slumped toward the asphalt._

 _"No, stop!" shirou called, "Saber!"_

 _And he activated a Command Seal, stopping her._

 _Future Shirou wanted to rip out his hair, Caster wasn't thinking about Fuji-nee and he'd just botched his best chance of rescuing her without losing his Command Seals._

 _Caster laughed, she raised her dagger, and plunged it into Saber's heart._

 _The most agonizing screams came out of her, ones that would live on in his worst nightmares. He never wanted to hear her scream like that again._

 _He saw the Command Seal vanish from his hand, and screamed in agony as he felt the stigmata tear away from his body._

 _Saber collapsed as the Command Seal appeared on Caster's hand._

 _Peels of laughter range from Caster as she rejoiced in her victory, "I hope you were enchanted! This is my Noble Phantasm, It's the Rule Breaker;_ _magic is totally useless against it. It'll nullify all magic in the world!"_

He finally knew how he could break his contract with Le Fay! He could finally be reunited with Saber!

He—

Woke up and saw he saw Amhar and 100 knights from Camelot, with their weapons drawn bearing down on him.

Shirou sighed; this day just _had_ to suck, didn't it?


	5. A Reunion of Master and Servant

**A Reunion of Master and Servant**

 ** _Author's Note:_**

 _I will block all Type Loonies when they act like jerks and say I don't know what I'm doing, I'm reading the VN, and I've watched both anime adaptations,_ Zentari2238, congratulations on getting blocked. I know how Command Seals work, nice work holding the idiot ball!

 _You can't expect me to get every single thing in the Nasuverse 100% perfect, ugh, and the jerk doesn't even write his/her own stories to seem like they have the right to nitpick that part, the Fate universe is already complicated, I'm already trying to keep a lot of details straight. This is just a fun fan story; you act like I'm a professional writer who is writing a sequel for Fate/Hollow Ataraxia!_

 _MasterofInfinity, you have a good point, but Diarmuid wasn't really blocking as much as stalling he could use Gáe Dearg to knock it out of the way. Both Diarmuid and Cú Chulainn's spears are B rank Noble Phantasms, so I couldn't figure out if they nerfed each other or not. I apologize if I didn't get it quite right, it's probably my author's bias showing, I like Diarmuid more than Cú Chulainn. Gáe Bolg still hit him though!_

 _Snowdrift, As you wish, I do love the Princess Bride, you noticed? Inconceivable!_

 _And yes, Gurthang can talk, either that or Tûrin Tûrimbar was just crazy, it's never made clear in_ The Children of Hûrin _whether it really talked or if it was all in his head._

 _"Dying" is an old fashioned euphemism for an orgasm, thank you William Shakespeare._

 _Ethan Darkcrow, I'm…sorry, um, too bad you won't stick around, it only goes up from Chapter One. I'm not gonna try to convince you to keep reading._

 _Just when I thought that I couldn't figure out how to top myself, I figured out how to top myself!_

 _And yes, Star Wars is big in Japan!_

 _Come on Funimation, I'm waiting for those Code Geass Blu-rays, where are they?!_

 _62 favorites, it doesn't register in my brain, I had no idea so many people would like this!_

* * *

It was cold, dark and rainy, Shirou was surrounded by a large host of enemies, they had him cornered, he had to get away.

"Looks like I found you, Archer!" Amhar shouted.

"Yeah, long time no see! How are things?" Shirou taunted him.

Shirou stretched out his hand. " _Trace, on!_ "

The men gazed in horror as the Sword that Chooses Kings appeared in his hand. They knew they had to attack that instant or they would die.

Shirou felt an arrow hit him in his upper arm below the shoulder; he ripped it out with his teeth.

All the rage he'd been suppressing for so long bubbled up at the worst possible moment. In his mind, he couldn't take it anymore. He'd been pushed passed his breaking point.

Shirou fell into the pits of madness, wrought from desperation and despair. He raged against the Heavens for denying him his love, his heroism, his home and his friends, he had hit beyond rock bottom.

People said that Shirou Emiya was fearless, but his fear is different. He's always seen his fear as a dragon. It slips through the cracks in the walls of his furnace heart and crawls up into his brain. It is a cold, dead voice that whispers to him of what he has lost. And what he will lose.

It whispers to him every night, of Kiritsugu, who died sitting next to him. It whispers of Saber, who vanished before his eyes.

It whispers to him every night, of Rin Tohsaka, his mentor and teacher, someone who could have been much more had he fallen in love with her instead of Saber. It whispers to him of Sakura Matou, who he always had feelings for, but didn't want to admit it, loving both sisters was hard on him. He could not bear to choose one over the other.

Every night, the dragon reminds him that he will lose Rin Tohsaka. That he will lose Sakura. Or they will lose him.

But in this moment, there was no Shirou Emiya. What stood there now is the Archer of Red.

 _I am the Archer of Red. He said within himself._

The dragon tried again, to speak of failure, of weakness, loss and death, but the Archer of Red with one hand, caught it and crushed away its voice; it tried to rise, and coil and rear and strike, but the Archer of Red laid his other hand upon it and broke its power with a single, effortless twist.

I am the Archer of Red, he repeated as he ground the dragon's corpse to dust beneath his mental heel, as he watched the dragon's dust and ashes scatter before the blast of his furnace heart, _and you—_

 _-Are nothing at all._

 _H_ e had become, finally, what they always called him.

The terror of Britain.

Shirou buried Caliburn into the first man in front of him, ripping open his stomach.

He parried another blow and sliced open a neck.

He cut two men down at their knees and watched them fall.

Shirou rested his sword on his shoulders and grinned wickedly at them.

Shirou saw an arrow go through his left hand as archers fired on him. His enemy sneered at him.

"Take a look at his left hand! Let's see him try to swing around that big sword now!"

Shirou chuckled, "You just made things more fun for me!"

He leapt headlong into a group of them.

He felt an arrow penetrate his right shoulder and the tip of a spear cut his left thigh, he retaliated by stabbing his sword through his attacker's head.

Shirou was panting hard.

A soldier was before him, he blocked the blow with his sword and Shirou bashed his skull in with Caliburn's pommel. Another swing and he sliced another man's throat. He was tiring, he'd been fighting for hours, he whirled around to parry a blow and ripped the man in front of him apart slicing him from his chest to his groin.

 _What the Hell am I doing here? In this miserable place?_ He thought.

Shirou rammed the blade through the chest of an archer, kicking him away. He finally noticed the pain in his left knee.

"Yes! We have him!" Arthur's son shouted.

Shirou lurched forward, leaning on his sword, embedding it in the ground to steady himself.

 _"I'm risking my life, for what exactly?_ His mind wondered. He steadied himself, ripping the arrow out of his thigh and managing to cut down an arrow aimed at his head.

He ran forward, slicing left and right, cutting down anything that moved. He hacked a knight's midsection and took out the man beside him.

He rested his sword on his shoulders, calming himself, keeping his wits sharp. He walked towards his foes with determination in his eyes; he wasn't going to die here. They were.

Shirou shut his eyes for a moment, and then he opened them. He brought his sword down, dismembering a man, watching his blood spray out onto the ground. Shirou let out an animal roar of rage and pain. He cut a man in two, from groin to shoulder, his strength doubled beyond that of any human.

He sliced a man's head clean off at the neck and tore another man's torso in half with his blade. He did so again and again; they would pay for trying to kill him, this wasn't about the survival, this was about his anger, and God help the poor knight who got in his way.

"Stand and fight, you call yourselves men of Britain?!" Amhar screamed in panic. He'd heard tales of the Vikings' Berserkers; he'd never seen such rage before in his life. Could this foreigner be one of the fabled mad warriors?

Now's not the time for thinking, Shirou mentally berated himself, I should focus on wielding my sword! Now I'll kill them, nothing more!

Heads, arms, body parts, everything flew into the air, he was beyond furious, and they were all going to die. He let out an inhuman roar as he charged forward.

King Arthur arrived on the bloody battlefield; she could only gaze out in awe and horror.

She thought that a scouting party of 100 men had been extravagant, it turned out she'd underestimated this mage. He'd killed all of them!

Arthur gazed out at the Archer of Red as she watched him battle her son Amhar.

"God save us! This Archer is deadly! Do not underestimate him, our foe is a dangerous one, I should know, I have one at court! This mage is a brutal, by Christ and his Apostles, we should remember the wrongs he's done to us, let vengeance be our watchword and our battle cry!"

"I shall be far generous than I should, will make him one offer to lay down his sword, if he should not, I'll cut his handsome head off and put it on a pike, so that Morgan Le Fay will see it, then she'll think twice about sending her lowly servants after me! And try not to die lads, mages are akin to gods more than men, I'll drink to you all afterwards, in fact, once we are victorious, I'll feast for a week, and all the finest wine in Camelot, will be yours! I intend to drown in a vat of wine, and if I'm drunk and out of my mind, and end up dying in my wife's lap, you'll pardon me if I make a complete ass of myself!"

The men roared with laughter and cheered.

"I will ride down to him and offer him mercy, if he refuses, on my signal, charge him," Arthur rode down towards the Archer of Red.

Amhar couldn't keep up with Shirou. Every horizontal slash, every thrust was blocked and parried easily.

"I will defeat you of Red, and once I do, Father will appoint me as his successor to the throne! Thanks to you, I'll become King of Britain!"

"I've heard about you, Amhar son of Arthur. You want to become king, but you love drinking parties and tourneys far more than you love your country! You don't serve people, you serve yourself! A king's duty is to his people, without them he is no king at all!"

Shirou blocked a horizontal strike, keeping the prince at bay. He heard stories about Amhar, that he wished to win his father's favor, but he loved the drink more than he loved his country. He was the sort to turn out like Caligula, and there was no way Saber was going to choose him as her successor.

"Prince Amhar, you are no true king, not now or ever!"

The prince rushed at him, screaming in rage, "I don't want to become king; I _will_ become king no matter what!"

Amhar thrust his blade at him; Shirou grabbed his arm and twisted it behind the knight's back. Shirou forced the prince to be back to back with him as he stabbed him in the leg with Kanshou.

"It's the only thing you've ever been passionate about, even though you know the heart of a true king just isn't in you!"

Amhar struggled to pull away from him.

"There, you see? Your reaction tells me that you've always suspected it yourself!"

Shirou batted the prince's sword out of his hands. Amhar didn't stand a chance, he tried to flee.

Shirou was beyond livid, he's never seen such weakness; how could Saber have spawned such a sniveling coward? He remembered vividly when Saber had taken on Berserker, a being 100 times stronger than anything he could ever be as a Mage and had never stopped fighting, even when she was badly bloodied and barely able to stand on her feet, she kept fighting, the it was the image of her supporting herself with her sword was permanently burned into his mind.

Shirou grabbed Britain's prince by his armor and picked him up off his feet. He was not a man given to profanity, but he was beyond furious, his disgust at this pathetic man drove him to chastise him with as many strong expletives as he could think of.

"This battlefield is your tomb, and the gatekeeper is King Arthur. Your epitaph will say, "Here lies the brave knights of Camelot, valiantly slain as they battled the Archer of Red", but because of you, they'll say, "Here lies Amhar, son of Arthur, gutless pussy that died pissing himself and screaming like a girl." No, that's an insult to girls; I've known girls with more balls than you! Man the fuck up, bitch! You'll die with honor even if I have to tie you to your damn sword!"

Amhar was too stunned to say anything.

"No response? Have your balls shrunk so high they're caught in your throat?!"

Suddenly, a lance embedded itself near Shirou's feet; he looked up at Saber, riding slowly towards him on a horse.

"Will you put down your sword?" she asked in a clear voice.

"It's over for you now you bastard," Amhar moved behind his father as he shouted. "Have at him, Arthur!"

As much as Shirou wanted to do that, he knew that it was far too late. He would atone for what he'd done by receiving his death at Saber's hands.

The wave of despair overwhelmed him; he'd murdered one hundred people in a rage. He remembered the dragon he'd brought the Archer of Red forth from his heart to slay, he remembered the cold venom in Archer's blood, the furnace of Archer's fury, and driving a sword through their hearts to butcher all who stood in his way. And it was in one blazing moment that he realized, that there was no dragon, that there was no Archer of Red. There was only him, only Shirou Emiya.

And the story was wrong: the Designated Villain should be defeated by the Knight in Shining Armor. It should end with said villain's death and a feast to celebrate, but the universe loved to make him their cosmic plaything, it must be the proverbial middle finger for surviving the Fifth Hoy Grail War and saving everyone without losing his ideals.

He held Caliburn up in an offensive stance. Saber gaped a little, recognizing the sword that shouldn't exist in this world.

"You mock me, Archer, that sword belongs to me!"

"This sword is fake, but even a fake can surpass the original!"

Shirou smiled broadly, his heart filled with overwhelming joy; his beloved Saber was there before him, full of wrath and righteous fury. He knew this was not how he had hoped to see her again, but to see her again at all, lifted the guilt from his shoulders, "So I finally see you again with my own eyes, my beloved nemesis!"

She dismounted and approached him cautiously, as any skilled warrior would.

"You are a twisted monster, a raving madman; I will end your life here and now!"

"To die will be an awfully big adventure, come then!"

Even though he knew that he would regret this, he had crossed a line, he was not averse to killing, if they were an evil threat and there was no other option, but he'd struck out in blind rage, and now they would hate him.

He'd made it so much worse.

With his magecraft, he could see Morgan Le Fay watching the battle from afar.

Arthur spotted someone standing far away, behind Arthur. _"Morgan Le Fay!"_

"Do you like my new puppet, Arthur? A shame your death will come at the hands of a peasant, but even if he doesn't kill you, he's still done plenty of damage! After he kills you I have special plans for him. I won't waste a Command Seal to kill you, Archer, kill King Arthur!"

"Charge him, charge him now!" Arthur shouted, waving her sword, giving the signal to attack.

Hs mind turned inward. He was once again in the golden fields of Avalon.

 _"Saber, please kill me!" he pleaded. "I've hurt you, and I can't blame it on a Command Seal, I've done terrible things, and I deserve to die! So punish me, since you are a righteous and just king!"_

 _He knelt before her, burying his face in her belly. She soothed him quietly, running her fingers through his hair; she guided his face to look up at her._

 _"The punishment for what you have done shall be this then...you will live on, always serving as a knight for justice and truth." Saber stroked his cheek, "You will no longer live your life as the Archer of Red; you shall sacrifice the ordinary pleasures of your life in benefit of the king for eternity."_

 _"Saber...Saber I'm sorry! All I want is for us to be together again!" he sobbed._

 _"We will not be together again if you die a coward, Shirou, so you must live! Live on and give me penance for the loss of my men at your hands!"_

 _He met her gaze, "Your command is my pleasure, always!"_

He opened his eyes.

 _"Trace on!"_

Every single weapon he could see, he began to trace, he was an expert marksmen, he would try to wound, not kill, not that this would make his reputation any better, but one hundred people dead was enough for him to bear, he didn't want anyone else to die because of him.

"Once the cavalry arrives, they'll skewer you, Archer!" Amhar gloated.

But he knew one thing that Morgan Le Fay didn't, he had never defeated Saber in combat, not once, except in those dark, unsettling nightmares where he dreamed that everything that could go wrong in the Fifth Holy Grail War did go wrong in the Holy Grail War, he lost Saber and his ideals, and even though he rescued Sakura, someone he loved dearly, the loss of his beloved Saber had been too much for him.

Losing her at the end of the Grail War had been bad enough, but the dreams were always worse, and he hated those dreams. He always woke up, crying, and was miserable for days, but he hadn't told Rin or Sakura about the dreams, he knew it would be far too sad a burden to put on them.

Shirou could see the vast host of cavalry charging towards him, lances prepared to skewer him.

"Possession, experience, assimilation complete! Processing complete! Projections, standby!"

Hundreds of swords appeared, hovering in the air.

"Release Freeze! All projections, successive fire!"

Blades flew like arrows, embedding themselves in knights and horses, hundreds of them fell to the ground wounded, as if they were nothing more than a nuisance.

Arthur gazed in horror, and turned her attention to the man before her.

Arthur took note of his appearance. He was handsome, stunningly handsome. As fair a man as she'd ever seen. He stirred something in her, she didn't understand. She'd never been attracted to men, despite being a woman. She'd never given her personal desires a second thought.

She put it out of her mind; such a silly thought could be blamed on Gawain's cooking she'd had for her midday meal.

"Surely you don't actually believe that a handsome face and a charming swagger can save you from the bite of my blade!"

Shirou circled her, this was going to be a difficult fight, in all his life, he'd never defeated her in the Emiya dojo.

"Show me what you can do, my adorable King of Knights!"

"Silence!" Arthur raged, could this man know about her true gender?!

"Wreck delicious revenge upon me! Or am I too much for you?" Shirou taunted. He needed to keep talking, to keep Arthur constantly at his throat. If Arthur kept up a relentless attack, he wouldn't have Le Fay force him to kill Saber by Command Seal, and he would be forced to summon Unlimited Blade Works. He'd say anything to keep himself from evoking his reality marble, even if it was hateful, even if it hurt her.

And he knew her so well, he knew just how to pierce her soul with his words alone, but he would torment her verbally, if it meant it would keep her alive physically for just a little bit longer until just the right moment.

He needed to put a good show on for Le Fay, get her to let her guard down. The witch wasn't within firing range of his swords. He also needed to stall for time to trace Rule Breaker, but he needed to stall Saber long enough so she wouldn't skewer him while he was using Rule Breaker to end his unwanted contract with Morgan Le Fay.

Arthur raised her sword.

"Do it archers! Shoot him! Now! Fire! Fire upon this madman! Erase his villainy from the earth!"

Arthur gazed at him. "Our arrows will blot out the sun!"

"Then I will fight in the shade!"

As one the archer knocked their bows, took aim, and fired.

An eerie glow surrounded the Archer of Red.

 _"I am the bone of my sword."_

Shirou stretched out his hand.

"Rho Aias!"

The seven pedaled shield covered him, rendering the arrows useless. They penetrated the ground. He waited until the last arrow dropped.

Saber wouldn't waste another volley. She was going to finish this herself.

She turned around o face her men. They awaited her orders. She signaled them fall back.

"I'm going to send you to Hell, Archer!" she warned him, not looking at him.

"You will try," he replied sadly.

She leapt up, flipping over him, twisting around she landed to face him, slashing at him with Excalibur.

Arthur swung her blade in a circular, downward motion, swinging left to right and then right to left. The Archer blocked them effortlessly as she moved forward to attack him. He kept backing up and matched her blow for blow, but he didn't even seem to tire at all.

Arthur was stunned, she'd never seen a fighting style like this, what was it and where did it come from?! It blocked every single one of her strikes!

Shirou was nervous; he'd never done this before, using a fictional fighting style, but Obi-Wan Kenobi's lightsaber Form III, Soresu would save his life. Obi-Wan Kenobi's sword movements were readable, unlike Saber's, so he mastered it, and it was fun to show off at Star Wars conventions. He'd always loved the Star Wars movies, all of them, ever since he was little.

Shirou blocked the blow and spun around, letting his momentum push him back. This threw Arthur off as this was an unexpected maneuver. Blades met and tangled again as Saber tried to find an opening, there wasn't one. Shirou tangled his blade with hers as he whirled around again.

Arthur swung Excalibur again, with forward chops and slashes, he ducked, constantly maneuvering himself around so that he circled and moved back the other way as he blocked her overhead blow by turning his sword sideways.

Shirou was surprised when she kicked him in the chest; he wondered how she managed to do that in her battle dress. Still he flipped backward and landed on his feet.

Shirou used every bit of his willpower to prevent himself from striking the fatal blow. He gave ground, it was his way. To strike down Arturia Pendragon would turn his heart to ash.

Turning his blade downward, he blocked her first slash on the left and then on the right, raising his blade up in a circular motion blocking any blow of her sword. Saber kept trying to cut him in half at the midsection with quick, efficient parries; he kept himself in one piece. He continued moving back\, practically running backwards as she moved towards him.

With downward slashes, she kept pushing him back as he gave her more

Slashing downward with her right hand, suddenly, she switched hands, spinning the blade with one hand, she whirled around. He blocked her blade as she hacked at him again.

Whirling again, she parried his blow as he thrust Caliburn a little too far. She grabbed his wrist, he managed to grab her wrist and using the momentum to spin his whole body around to slash at her as he brought her blade up to strike him.

It was so cool to pull off Obi-Wan's crazy block, if only she hadn't been trying to kill him.

Unfortunately, that had been about as much as the Noble Phantasm could take, it finally broke under the strain, half of it flew off towards her, she managed to move out of the way, but not before it landed a glancing blow.

The imitation of Caliburn broken blade landed a glancing blow on her armor; she'd avoided the brunt of the strike.

Unlike the _Excalibur_ movie, armor did not make a _thunk_ when it was struck. One thing that as memorable about that movie was that there was _thunking_ everywhere in every battle scene.

Saber glanced at the broken blade as it vanished into thin air.

She suddenly groaned in pain. "Bastard, what have you done with my scabbard?!"

"Oh crap!" Shirou hissed. He'd always assumed that she had Avalon with her and that all his attacks were useless because of it, but it'd been stolen, and she blamed him. That's just dandy.

"I am more than prepared to destroy you, you monster, no matter what the odds are against me!"

"What's the matter Christian?" Shirou taunted. "Your dragon is waiting!"

Shirou threw Caliburn away and vanished into thin air.

Shirou shook out his arms, they were starting to burn, and even he couldn't fight forever if his arms were aching.

Shirou was panting hard.

"You're tiring Archer, and despite your impressive skills, I haven't even broken a sweat!"

"I liked it better when I had you on the ropes, it seems my exhaustion has made you cocky," Shirou smirked.

 _"Trace, on!"_

He traced Kanshou and Bakuya. He lunged at her again. She avoided his strikes and effortlessly cut his blades to pieces. His arms were too tired to react, but he managed to avoid her strike aimed at his midsection, Excalibur caught him on his upper arm instead, leaving a very nasty gash.

"You're bruised and bleeding, your arm hanging by a few strands of meat. What are you going to do? Will you die like a dog? Or on your feet like a man?"

Shirou gripped the remnants of clothing on his arm with his teeth, holding up the other blade. "You think a cut on my arm can stop me?!"

"Now shut up, and come at me!" Shirou brandished his blades with what was left of his arms. "Come on! Fight me!"

He tossed the left blade Kanshou into the air, catching it so he could get a better grip. "Hurry! Hurry!"

Shirou would have to use Unlimited Blade Works to keep his body in one piece, he'd have to keep talking so he would stall for time until Le Fay got closer, but how would he have enough time to use Rule Breaker? Saber would cut him to pieces before he could.

He threw his blades at her, she deflected them easily.

"I know that no ordinary sword can kill King Arthur, but what can you do against a sword, not made in this world at all?"

A great sword appeared, it was beautiful, but terrifying, it was black as death and yet, elegant in its own way.

"This is _Gurthang_ , the Iron of Death, a fictional sword created by the mind of one of Britain's greatest authors, J.R.R. Tolkien. There is malice in this sword. It does not love its master, nor will it abide me for long, if it can slay a dragon, it can slay King Arthur!"

Shirou took hold of the sword.

"Put it to the test then!" Arthur shouted.

Their blades met again and locked. Saber decide to go for a less than honorable but very effective tactic, she turned the sword aside and kicked him right in the groin. So much for chivalry.

Doubling over he managed to grab some dirt and fling it in her face as he scrambled back to his feet.

Slashing right and left, he beat her back, trying to regain his composure and the offensive, she wouldn't have that.

He knew that this was a bad idea, but this was probably the worst idea ever. He held the sword up and moved forward.

"Ultimate Swallow Reversal!"

Saber had never seen the technique but Shirou had, he was sure that Saber could dodge it, but it might by him enough time—

That didn't happen as another sword flew out of nowhere knocking the blade out of his hands and into the air. He recognized it from the King Arthur stories. Shirou couldn't move quite fast enough to avoid Arondight and it inflicted a surface wound across his chest.

Saber caught it in her left hand.

"Hail _Gurthang_ , Iron of Death, you alone now remain! What lord or loyalty do you know, save the hand that wields you? From no blood will you shrink. Will you take the Archer of Red? Will you slay him swiftly?"

A cold voice rang out to answer her, "Yes, I will drink his blood, I will slay him swiftly."

That was something she hadn't expected. It chilled her entire body. What was this thing? Was it really cursed?

"Throw it away, Arthur!" Lancelot called to her. Arthur turned to face Camelot's finest knight. "Throw it away, it is evil, even if it is just a fictional sword, malice emanates from it, it can drive a man mad!"

Arthur watched as it shattered, apparently, the impact from Arondight had caused it to break.

"It is finished, now I will send you to Hell, just as I promised, Archer!"

"Trace Overedge!" Shirou traced his short swords again. He rushed straight at Saber. Their swords rang out as they met again and again. He slashed left to right, blocking her strikes, but his blows were much weaker than before. He leapt up, slamming his blades back down.

"King of Knights! I guess I was mistaken! I thought that cold-blooded murderer was abhorrent to the eyes of God! The One you believe to be creator of all things!"

She thrust the sword at him; he parried and whirled around, meeting her blow for blow.

He hacked at her with horizontal strikes as she kept up her defense.

Shirou leaped back into the air. He hurled dozens of blades at her, her strong magical defense kept her safe however.

"Have you abandoned your God?!" the Archer mocked her relentlessly. "You would leave Him so easily?!"

Landing on his feet, he leapt up, launching himself at Saber, his blade bit into her shoulder.

"Is your God so readily lost to your people?! Is He?!"

Shirou dug his sword into the ground to stop his momentum. He charged straight back to her.

The archers fired on him again, he cut down their arrows as fast as he could, Shirou knew he was about to give out.

She kicked him back into a tree that had fallen down diagonally. "Do not assist me, I will finish him myself!"

The clash of blades was so fierce that the Knights of the Round Table knew they could not interfere, even Sir Galahad, who was incensed that Archer should mock Christ and His divinely appointed King of Britain.

"During this war, when you are surrounded by nothing but despair," He charged down the tree, leaping forward, he kicked her off her feet.

He stood over her, flipping his blade upside down, he aimed at her heart.

"Surely somewhere in the darkest depths of your heart, you began to believe that there was no God in this world at all!"

Arthur let out a scream of rage. She thrust her sword straight at his midsection.

With Excalibur, Saber shattered the overedged Kanshou and Bakuya. But not before Shirou, in one last chance to make Morgan Le Fay truly believe he would kill Arturia, grabbed the shattered piece of Bakuya between his teeth and stabbed her in a weak spot in her magically enhanced armor. Even magic armor couldn't hold up in a prolonged fight.

Saber stabbed him in the stomach. He was driven back by the force of the blow and landed on the ground.

Managed to move to a kneeling position.

Shirou was breathing hard, "Running out of mana is such a pathetic end."

Shirou couldn't help the smile that crossed his lips. There was no doubt that King Arthur would kill him, but he would die honorably, he wouldn't beg for his life, and yet the glorious irony is that his death would allow them to be together again.

Fate had an ironically cruel sense of humor.

Saber stood to her feet, "I've defeated you, you bastard!"

He gazed at the woman he loved, "Death smiles at us all, all a man can do is smile back."

King Arthur held up Excalibur, he saw that beautiful golden light begin to shine.

He saw the light swirl around the sword, scattering like gold dust over the battlefield, "EX—" Arthur began to cry out the name of her holy sword.

At least the last thing Shirou saw would be lovely.

His grin widened, he could see his beloved Saber, the one from his dreams in a dress, gazing at him, standing behind her past self, but unable to interfere with these events.

His smile wavered. Saber was crying.

Shirou shut his eyes and accepted his death with all the grace and dignity of a valiant knight.

"Slay him not, King Arthur!" cried a voice that sounded like thunder.

Shirou opened his eyes and turned his head. He saw a sight that surprised him.

Merlin, the Mage of Flowers stood on the battlefield, a stern, reproachful expression on his face. Flowers were blooming at his feet; it seemed really out of place with all the blood on the ground.

Arthur was displeased, but stayed her blade, just for moment.

Morgan Le Fay was moving towards the trio. She was almost in range. Shirou just had enough mana left project Rule Breaker, sever his contract, and give her a nice going away present using Gilgamesh's blade spam technique. But with Saber ready to take his head off, he was definitely going to die, because normal people die when they are injured or blasted by Excalibur.

Shirou could only watch as teacher and student fought over his life, for once, he hoped that Arthur would lose this contest.


	6. Broken Romanticism

**Broken Romanticism**

 ** _Author's Note:_** _Surely Arturia will be chivalrous to Shirou wouldn't she?_ Nope! _Chivalry applies to knights, archers? You get executed if they didn't sever your fingers! Don't worry, that's not going to happen to good old Shirou, he has plot armor! And Saber in Avalon, trying to prevent her past self from killing him of course!_

 _Shirou can trace Gurthang, because there have been illustrations and props made of it, so if he wanted to, he can have one made in real life to trace. After all, there are Lord of the Rings prop swords everywhere you can buy online, and if you've seen the_ Children of Hurin _cover, you can see the sword easily and all he would have to do is have a custom one made in real life to trace it._

 _YouTube channel AWE me, and their show Man At Arms Reforged has been defictionalizing swords for awhile. They've made two keyblades Kingdom key and Oath Keeper, Cloud's Buster Sword, Sephiroth's giant Masamune_ _sword, Guts' pre Black Swordsman sword, Anduril from LOTR, last year for Illya's (yes, that's one of the blacksmith's names) passion project and a ton of requests last year they defictionalized Saber's Excalibur, he's a big Fate/Stay Night fan! Fans are still begging for them to make Kanshou and Bakuya. They just made the Great Sword of Artorias from Dark Souls III!_

 _For the person who said I shouldn't reference FMA because I'm not being original, I deleted that review because you obviously don't know what a shout out is. I can shout out my favorite franchise if I want to! Is using dialogue from King Arthur and His Knights of the Round Table and the lyrics to real bawdy songs considered being "unoriginal" too? I highly doubt casual Saber fans actually look at King Arthur stories outside of Wikipedia. I've read from cover to cover two different King Arthur books. The only reason I haven't gotten through The Once and Future King yet is because it's really long!_

 _Type Loonies are so unfixable with the Nasuverse that I can't bend the universe a little? What's wrong with Shirou learning a fictional fighting style that can clearly be seen on film? And as to how Shirou can have fictional swords, the simple answer should make you facepalm!_

 _"The life of the court is death to the soul," it's a quote by Courtier Peter of Blois, who traveled with King Henry II._

 _Kadzooks, thanks for the review, I really appreciate it._

 _"The Good Ship Venus" is raunchy enough it would probably mean this story would be pulled, but you can Google it. If you're wondering what "the clap" is, it's Gonorrhea._

* * *

"Slay him not, King Arthur!" Merlin shouted. King Arthur stayed her blade as she glared at her court magician who had appeared out of nowhere as he was prone to do.

"Merlin, this man is too dangerous to let him live!" Arthur shouted.

Morgan Le Fay cried out, "By my third Command Seal I order you to kill—"

"Underestimate me at your own peril, you big bitch!" Shirou shouted at Le Fay. "Trace on!"

Le Fay saw the dagger and gasped in horror. "It cannot be! That is—"

"It's Rule Breaker, Medea's Noble Phantasm, magic is useless against it. It'll nullify all magic in the world, including my forced contract with you, Morgan Le Fay!"

Without hesitation, Shirou stabbed himself with Rule Breaker, breaking his unwanted contract with Le Fay.

Arthur heard the scream come from him; it chilled her to the bone.

A dozen blades appeared in the air. They were aimed at Morgan Le Fay.

She vanished just as he launched his blades. He finally collapsed from exhaustion.

"Kay, send some men after Morgan Le Fay, I'll deal with the Archer of Red!"

Kay took some of the Knights of the Round Table with him.

Lancelot and Gawain seized Shirou by his arms, forcing him to kneel before Arthur.

"That's not necessary, I willingly surrender to the King of Brittan!" he called out to her. Arthur gestured and the knights let him go.

"How will I have proof of your words?" Arthur demanded.

"I will do whatever you ask!" Shirou told her.

Arthur's face was cold and unreadable. She looked down at him.

"Get down on your knees and kiss my foot in surrender!" she commanded him. She extended her right foot. The armored solleret, more commonly known as the boot, was caked in mud.

Arthur expected the mage's indignant protest, some haughty words such as, "It is beneath my dignity to kiss someone's foot, even yours!"

Instead, much to her surprise, the mage got down on his knees.

Shirou looked at her, "As you wish."

It was all he could say, after all, he couldn't say "I love you," not only would she be confused and angry, but she probably wouldn't believe him, and the fact that everyone saw her as a man; it would be viewed as something else entirely.

If Westley could say it to Buttercup then he could say it to her, she'd figure it out eventually.

He murmured something she didn't hear, "Your command is my pleasure, always."

He kissed the dirtied boot.

The men laughed, noticing that Shirou's entire body trembled.

"Look at him, trembles with fear and humiliation!" Amhar laughed.

 _Fear? Humiliation? No, she's with me, Saber's here! I can see her and touch her!_ Shirou kept his facial expression neutral, but inside, in his heart, he was overjoyed.

He had touched her and kissed her, even if it was her armored boots, he didn't care.

"I should kill you, it would be just!" Arthur hissed at him.

"Arthur, should you slay this man, the doom that I have foreseen will fall on you so quickly, you will never recover. If you wish to remain a righteous and just king, you will spare his life!"

Arthur sighed in frustration, "I will do as you advise me, but if he kills again, that blood will be on you old friend!"

She turned away from Shirou.

"Put him in chains and bring him with us back to Camelot, there we will punish him for his crimes, and we will learn more concerning Morgan Le Fay."

So they clapped him in chains and surrounded him with Arthur's sons, but he said very little, as he was deep in thought.

* * *

This is how it feels to be Shirou Emiya right now.

He used to be the unskilled novice who survived the Fifth Holy Grail War.

He is now a skilled mage of relative renown in the modern era, his name is synonymous with a man who saves people just in the nick of time. He will stop at nothing to reach Avalon, the realm of Fairies to be reunited with the woman he loves.

His life is an eventful one; he went with Rin Tohsaka to the Clocktower and was accepted into the Mages Association. Settling down in Winchester, where it was said Camelot was located, he settled into the career of a blacksmith for the next ten years, he made swords, for Renaissance fairs, weddings, gifts, custom orders and even some film studios.

When he was not rescuing people, his favorite hobby was to create swords from his favorite videogames, movies and manga and tracing them after he finished creating a physical copy.

Among his favorites were Anduril, Sting, Gurthang and Glamdring, also the Kingdom Key and Oathkeeper. But his most recent creation filed him with a ridiculous amount of pride, a perfect, functional replica of Cloud Strife's Buster Sword from Final Fantasy: Advent Children, mainly because it was so difficult to forge six swords that could be combined into one large sword, but he pulled it off, and displayed it at his shop, but not before he'd traced it and stored it away in Unlimited Blade Works, along with a few of his favorites from other works of fiction.

It was because of his magecraft for tracing and his chosen career that the Mages Association gave him the nickname, the "Blacksmith Mage".

He's also an Arthurian scholar and he enjoys telling the King Arthur stories at medieval festivals and Arthurian societies.

He eventually moved back to Fuyuki and stored his sword collection in his old mansion before leaving to travel the world to help more people.

It was what he'd been doing when he'd been summoned to this era. He was torn between searching for a way back to his own time period and staying there with Saber.

Staying with Saber was going to be difficult, as she would prefer to have his head on a pike right now.

He is perfectly content, despite being hated and chained hand and foot, he'll be all right.

He is a powerful mage in his own era, and he is like a god in the age of gods, knights, saints, dragons and wizards.

But he is none of those things right now. He is just Shirou Emiya, the man who loves the King of Knights, Arturia Pendragon more than anything.

He'd been miserable for so long, he'd forgotten what happiness felt like.

He is in a state of bliss because his beloved Saber is alive, and he is with her.

And the irony is she is here and yet not here all at once.

Shirou had researched time travel magic, but he concluded that any attempt he made on his own would probably mean he'd fry his brain and turn into a vegetable.

It bothered him that he couldn't figure out how Le Fay had summoned him, unlike when he'd summoned Saber, she didn't have anything that was a direct connection to him, at least he couldn't think of anything. Unlike when Rin had summoned Archer, Le Fay had nothing that could connect them, like Shirou had with Saber, at least he didn't think of anything that could connect them—

Wait, the Shroud of Martin, he'd seen it hidden away with various magical items, how had she gotten it?

He put it out of his mind; he had other things to think about.

He was silent and still, only letting himself breathe, feeling the beat of his heart, and he could have stood there forever in the rain, and had his fondest dreams fulfilled, simply by watching her be alive…

But then she moved and paced in conversation with Sir Lancelot, and he heard Lancelot speak of _a feast to celebrate victory_ and _return to Camelot_ , his breath caught again, and he held it, because the next thing he knew he would hear would be _her_ voice—

"Make ready to return to Camelot! We will celebrate our victory over the Archer of Red!"

And beyond that, there was no hope he could be happier—

Even if he was chained and dragged around as a prisoner, he is able to bear it all.

Sometimes Shirou wonders if he could get home, he doesn't have a time machine after all, no FG204 to travel back and forth between the past and the future.

'He wonders if he changes things, if they'll jump to another world line or not. Or if he was just going crazy and thinking too hard about it.

 _I'm mad scientist! So cool, son of a bitch!_

Time travel is always tricky, he wonders if it runs on Narnia Time, he could be here for months and very little time passes in his own era, or if time still flows normally in all eras, or if he's theoretically jumped a world line.

Shirou wondered if he should consult Merlin, after all, in every time travel involving King Arthur, Merlin was the surefire ticket to getting home. Still he wonders, if he dies in this era, will he go home again, or go to Saber in Avalon? He really doesn't want to find out the hard way.

Time travel is too complicated; he just needs to put it out of his mind for now. Eventually, he will figure out how to go home, but he should focus on what's most important to him right now, and all that matters to him is Saber.

Shirou Emiya could only feel happiness.

It would only be a matter of time before she would come to understand him and love him all over again, and then he would hold her in his arms and their lips would meet, and the universe would become perfect.

* * *

"The life of the court is death to the soul," Shirou murmured to himself. "Every day is unpredictable; there may be a last minute change of plan, taking the court to some desolate spot where there is a roof and dinner only for the king."

He glanced around, still speaking to himself. "So after wandering three or four miles in unfamiliar woodland, often in darkness, the courtiers fight with their swords for lodgings, unworthy for pigs to quarrel over. Thanks a lot Peter of Blois!" The sarcasm was intentional; he just had to remember that documentary.

He'd watched Nobles fight over a pigsty of all places, and he'd settled to curl up on the ground and trace a sleeping bag and a pillow when nobody was looking.

For days on end they traveled and it was driving Shirou crazy.

Shirou was so mind numbingly bored, he didn't want to trace an iPod, they would probably take it from him if he tried.

No, he couldn't possibly do that, if he started singing bawdy songs, he'd probably go to Hell for sure, but he was so bored, and they couldn't all be the picture perfect knights in shining armor, and he knew they weren't the idealized version that many modern audiences read about.

Besides, it's not like these people liked him or anything, he also wanted to get a reaction out of Saber, she'd become so emotionless and robotic after he had surrendered to her, rarely saying anything, even to the Knights of the Round Table as they rode toward Camelot.

"I'm going to Hell for this," he muttered.

"You're going to Hell for all the people you killed," Amhar smirked.

Shirou began to sing " _The Good Ship Venus_ ", people weren't really paying attention at first, but as they listened, some of the men began to become uncomfortable.

When he came to the verses about the cook and the dog, the men were sweating, poor Galahad who was within earshot, crossed himself and begged God's forgiveness loud enough for Arthur to hear him.

The bawdy song had an unintended consequence, he was moved up toward Saber in order for people to not hear " _The Good Ship Venus_ " again.

Shirou was within earshot hot of Arthur.

"If you sing the "Good Ship Venus, I shall have my sons shove a rag down your throat."

"Very well," Shirou muttered, he was so dead for this, but getting her to show emotions was totally worth it to him. He began singing.

 _The minstrels sing of an English King many years ago  
He ruled the land with an iron hand, but his morals were weak and low  
His only outer garment was a dirty yellow shirt,  
With which he tried to hide his hide but he couldn't hide the dirt_

 _He was dirty, lousy and full of fleas,  
And he had his women by twos and threes  
God bless the bastard king of England_

 _Oh the Queen of Spain was an amorous Jane; lascivious wench was she  
She longed to fool with the royal tool of the king across the sea  
So she sent a royal message with royal messenger  
To ask the king of England to fornicate with her_

 _He was dirty, lousy and full of fleas,  
And his terrible tool hung down to his knees  
God bless the bastard king of England_

 _When Phillip of France, he heard by chance  
He raged before the Court, "My queen prefers my rival more 'cause my instrument's too short!"_

 _So he sent the Count of Zippety-Zap to give the Queen a dose of the Clap_  
 _To pass along to the royal dong of the King of England_

 _He was dirty, lousy and full of fleas,  
And he had his women by twos and threes  
God bless the bastard king of England_

 _When the King of England outside the castle walls  
He took an oath by his hairy Grote he'd have the Frenchman's balls!  
So he offered half the royal purse and a piece of Queen Hortense  
To any British subject who could out screw the king of France_

 _He was dirty, lousy and full of fleas,  
And his terrible tool hung down to his knees  
God bless the bastard king of England_

 _So the Earl of Sussex jumped on his horse and he straight away rode to France  
Where he made a pass and stripped the sash of Phillip's pajama pants  
Then in front of a throng, he slipped on a thong  
And he jumped on his horse and galloped along  
Dragging the baffled Frenchman back to merry England_

 _He was dirty, lousy and full of fleas,  
And he had his women by twos and threes  
God bless the bastard king of England_

 _When the king of England saw the sight, he fainted dead on the floor  
For during the ride, his rival's pride had stretched a yard or more!_

 _Then all the maids from England came down to London town  
And shouted 'round the battlements, "To Hell with the British Crown!"_

 _So Phillip of France usurped the throne  
His scepter was his royal bone  
With which he whipped the bastard king of England_

 _He was dirty, lousy and full of fleas,  
And his terrible tool hung way past to his knees  
God bless the bastard king of England_

 _Farewell the bastard king of England!_

Shirou saw Arthur turn to him and smile, he recognized that smile, it was the one she wore when she was livid.

Taking two steps she slugged him in the eye, knocking him off his feet.

Her sons laughed.

"Serves you right you bastard!" Loholt taunted.

To his surprise, he saw the Archer of Red stand up and in a strange gesture, stick his thumb up in the air and whisper loudly enough for him to hear, "Worth it!"

They continued walking until they arrived at Camelot. It was far too beautiful for him, and he wished he had arrived as a guest, not a prisoner.

"Camelot, the greatest light in all of Britain, the dark cannot touch us here!" Arthur cried out as they caught sight of their home.

Shirou gazed at all of it with a sad smile.

"The dark is generous. Its first gift is concealment. Our true faces lie in the dark beneath our skins. Our true hearts remain shadowed deeper still. But its greatest concealment lies not in protecting our secret truths but in hiding from us the truths of others. The dark protects us from what we dare not know."

"Its second gift is comforting illusion. The ease of gentle dreams and night's embrace. The beauty that imagination brings to what would repel in day's harsh light. But the greatest of its comfort is the illusion that it is temporary, that every night brings a new day. Because it is day that is temporary, day is the illusion."

"Its third gift is the light itself. As days are defined by the nights that divide them, as stares are defined by the infinite black through which they wheel, the dark embraces the light and brings it forth from the center of its own self. With each victory of the light, it is the dark that wins."

All of them were disturbed by the mage's words, but Arthur was troubled by it most of all, was it some foreboding prophecy or just his observations as he saw it?

Immediately, she returned to Camelot and met with her councilors, discussing how they should punish the Archer of Red, since only the King could order an execution, and Merlin had advised against it, they suggested that he receive 100 lashes for each knight he killed. Arthur begrudgingly agreed.

So they took him out to the public square and prepared to tear his shirt off him when Merlin stopped them.

"Do not tear the Shroud of Martin, it is a holy object," he warned them. The knights were surprised the mage wore a holy shroud on his person.

They took it off and tied his hands above his head as they prepared to flog him.

The torturer raised his whip. Shirou glanced at Arthur.

"The wheel has begun to turn. Heed my words, struggler. Soon the rain of blood, the likes of which you cannot imagine shall fall down upon you. It will be a storm of death, but take heed struggler. Struggle, endure, contend; for that alone is the sword of one who defies death. Do not forget these words!"

The king said nothing, she only watched him. He groaned in agony and screamed in pain until the last lash. They took him down and dragged him to a dungeon.

Arthur couldn't help but be curious as to why his eyes had never left hers throughout the ordeal. And Merlin was deeply troubled by it.

* * *

Merlin was restless and unhappy, that vision of Arturia during the King's battle with the Archer made him wonder why he'd seen it at all. Arturia wearing a dress was something that she could never do, having concealed her gender to become king. The agonized expression that Arturia wore was enough for him to call for the Archer to be spared. But what did it mean?

Merlin knew exactly what would become of his beloved student, and not once in these visions had he seen this man, and it was wrong for him to be here at all.

"Merlin," Arturia's voice called to him.

He glanced over, expecting to see the King, but instead, he saw the image he'd seen on the battlefield, Arturia in a while dress.

"Castor and Pollux—" Merlin swore loudly in shock.

"—Blow me to Bermuda!" Arturia laughed, smiling at him, recalling a memory of her childhood.

 _"_ So you are Arturia, a vision from the future then," Merlin smiled.

"Merlin, you mustn't let me kill Shirou Emiya."

"Shirou Emiya…the Archer, but why is he so important to you? That I saw you on the battlefield yesterday is impossible."

"I fear what my half sister has done, summoning him to my time and forcing him to fight me, it's destroying the relationship I have with him."

"And what relationship is that?" Merlin was curious.

"I was his Servant, a Heroic Spirit he summoned, fighting to the death for the Holy Grail, and Shirou was my Master, you know why I would do that, don't you Merlin."

He nodded.

"He was the man who loved me, Arturia Pendragon, more than anything, I loved him because he would always protect me, the amateur mage who felt he could do nothing, and was dragged into a secret war unwillingly."

Merlin knew that this relationship was more than just courtly love. He could see it on her face that they'd consummated that relationship.

"So you finally thought about yourself for once in your life," Merlin chuckled. "And no one judged you for this?"

"His era has vastly different views of love and sexuality, some do not concern themselves with marriage, for many people, love is what drives their desires. I am waiting for him, and he is chasing me, and my deepest wish is to see him again."

"And why have you not appeared to yourself to explain all this?"

"If I appear before Arthur, the only logical explanation my past would believe these dreams to be is a result of my nephew's cooking, or the stress of the day's events, I would more likely blame it on Gawain's cooking than truly believing that I have seen a vision of myself and the life I chose to give up to become king."

"What am I supposed to do?" Merlin asked.

"Chastise me, cool my misguided anger towards him, I know I've hurt him, and it hurts me, because it was never supposed to happen, but you can't tell me that he loves me more than anything, it would break me. He'll tell me when he knows I'm ready to hear it."

"Of course, Arturia," Merlin replied eagerly.

"Merlin, swear on your life you'll watch over him."

"I swear on my life, no more harm will come to Shirou Emiya."

"Good, good. Thank you my friend."

"I know how stubborn you are, it will take all of my power to persuade you."

"Do whatever it takes to talk sense into me then."

Merlin glanced at Saber, "I know that boy's name, but I cannot remember how I have met him."

"You've lived a long time, my friend, it will come back to you I'm sure."

Saber vanished, leaving the Mage of Flowers alone. Merlin remained deep in thought, contemplating the strange events of the past few days.

He found Arthur in the dungeon, simply staring at Shirou Emiya.

"Let him out of there Arthur, you've punished him enough."

"One night in a dungeon, one hundred lashes? You think that's enough?!" She snarled at her mentor. "He deserves more!

"Take him to my room to let him rest," Merlin instructed.

"Merlin, he should be put in stocks for three days!" Arthur scolded him.

"You had him flogged!" Merlin snapped.

"I was being lenient, I as contemplating severing his fingers!" she glared at her mentor.

"Where's your gracious chivalry King Arthur?" Merlin asked.

"Chivalry is for _knights_ , Merlin, not common archers, I would have executed him on the battlefield, but _you_ had to meddle in my affairs!"

"He's been punished enough, my friend, your temper is interfering with your better judgment, or does the fact that he broke Le Fay's enchantment over himself and turned against her mean nothing to you?"

"I am…unsure of what all of it means."

"I have many questions to ask him, I can't do that if he's dead!"

"I should be the one questioning him!" Arthur snapped.

"Not in your foul mood, you will cease your punishments, he's suffered enough and now you're taking out your rage at Le Fay on him," Merlin told the king as they walked away from the dungeon cell.

"All of Le Fay's servants are evil!" Arthur hissed angrily.

"Need I remind you of the servant girl who freed Sir Lancelot? She wasn't evil."

"Sir Lancelot is very good at winning over women, nothing more!"

"You're being unreasonable!"

Arthur shrugged her shoulders, "Keep your pet, Merlin, I hope he amuses you!"Guards, let him out, he's to be put in Merlin's custody!"

Arthur left to go order that the celebration feast be prepared, Shirou hoped the food would put her in a better mood.

He helped Shirou onto the bed, and changed his bandages, Shirou asked for the Wizard's help and he offered it gladly.

"You'll pardon me master mage, my workshop is quite messy," Merlin gestured to his things scattered around the room. "You haven't asked me to heal you."

"I won't trouble the Mage of Flowers with something that trivial, I'll be better in no time at all," Shirou replied.

"Do I know you young lad?" Merlin asked.

"You know my name, even though you don't know I belong to it. I am Shirou, and Shirou means…me."

"Shirou…Shirou, did we meet, in Glastonbury?" Merlin asked.

"Yes, I was…visiting her grave," Shirou said sadly.

"Ah, yes, January 31st, 2016, yes, yes," the Mage of Flowers exclaimed.

"So you _do_ live backwards through time then," Shirou sighed, "Any way to get me back to my own era?"

"That would prove difficult even for me, Shirou."

"I'll miss my modern conveniences," Shirou sighed.

"But everything you have in that survival bag is solar powered when it comes to your electronics."

I can't carry a solar powered mini fridge around, and unfortunately, without how people cook in this era, I'll be in Food Hell!"

"Can't you cook Shirou? You told me you're an excellent cook!"

"Like she will let me into the kitchen!" Shirou laughed.

"She will come around, you know that," Merlin looked at him.

"I know," Shirou glanced at the Mage of Flowers. He looked up as a servant opened the door.

"King Arthur calls for the Archer of Red," the servant told them.

Shirou followed the servant into the throne room.

Shirou gazed in awe as he saw Arthur sitting on her throne. She was dressed in fine clothing, stunningly beautiful, and at the full height of her power. She is as splendid a ruler as her legend says she is, and he bows respectfully in Japanese fashion with a deep bow of respect.

They were surprised by this show of respect, and Arthur gazes say him, her expression is still unreadable.

"Merlin has warned me against taking your life, and so I shall show you a great mercy. You shall have meat and drink enough, for I have never denied that to friend or foe, even if chivalry isn't meant for the likes of a common archer like you!" King Arthur spat angrily.

The king scowled, "You've been spared because my court mage wishes it, and I will humor him so he won't cause trouble. You will be confined to the castle grounds of Camelot, but should you attempt to escape, the archers will kill you."

"Thank you for your mercy good king Arthur," Shirou whispered.

"I'm not granting you mercy, merely appeasing my mentor!" she glowered at him. "Now leave me and I will speak to you later regarding Morgan le Fay."

"The reason I survived our encounter, is the nobility demonstrated by the King of Knights. I'll leave you alone then," Shirou replied sadly.

Arthur felt a pang of curiosity at what this monster could feel sad about, but she put it out of her mind.


	7. Of Hookers, Heirs and Hercules

**Of Hookers, Heirs and Hercules (Winter Days, Lonely Nights)**

 **Author's Note:**

 ** _Morals Dissonance Will Ensue:_** _Morality in the Middle Ages was very, very double standard with a lot of Values Dissonance. Just look up Courtly Love, it has a ton of double standards. In the Middle Ages, they had a very different view on sex than we do in the modern era, single men could go to brothels and have sex, but married people couldn't. And yet there were cults of virginity. The church condemned fornication and adultery, but they got a cut of brothel profits and the clientele were often clergymen! I know this, because I've done research! In the Arthurian stories, Amhar and Loholt are illegitimate children, and so is Mordred, but they don't make a big deal about it, but when Lancelot is caught with Guinevere, she has to die for committing adultery!_

 _I guess I'm gonna have to put up this notice and explain all my research every time I do this, aren't I?_

 _101 favorites and counting! Thank you; I still don't know where you people are coming from! I've been busy watching documentaries on The Plantagenet's and trying to come up with more ideas for the story._

 _Shirou doesn't need magic training from Merlin because he's a full fledged mage now._

 _Why didn't Morgan Le Fay just have Shirou kill King Arthur? Well, since Saber's belief is that her people are more important than her, killing her people would be just as bad as Shirou trying to kill her._

 _Saber would be as powerful in life as she is as a Heroic Spirit. Shirou is powerful because he is closer to the Root of magic during the medieval period compared to the modern era._

 ** _Alduin,_** _I'm not offended, I just get tired of people telling me how I should write my story, it happens to my popular stories a lot._

 ** _TargaryenKurosaki_** _, Gracias por disfrutar de la historia, no puedo leer una palabra de español. Escribí este mensaje con el traductor de Gogle._

 _I've started reading_ The Winter King, _part of_ The Warlord Chronicles _by Bernard Cornwell, which is modern "historical" retelling of the King Arthur stories._

The Winter King _was written in 1996, eight years before the Nasuverse and it's pretty dark too._

 _It's really interesting, Mordred is the half crippled son of Uther Pendragon, Lancelot is a lying douche who isn't loyal or brave, but has minstrels make up songs about brave things he never did. Merlin is a letch whose only loyalty is to the old gods of Britain. Arthur is still the good king as always. Arthur's sons are also in the story too, so if you want some literature with them in it, there is more than my fanfic._

 _The horn is well, being horny, and a single woman is what they used to call a prostitute._

* * *

Shirou lay on the bed in the small room Arthur had begrudgingly given him; it was on the second floor of the castle, not too far from Merlin's, but further from the king's bed chamber. She said it was so the old man could watch him.

Shirou was focusing his energies on using Avalon to heal himself, with Arthur in such close proximity, he could heal his body and return it to a healthy state, he'd been depleted of Mana for the entirety of his walk to Camelot and weakened by his injuries, and he was using the Noble Phantasm to heal his castrated penis, it was taking him much longer than he would have liked, because his bond with Saber was so tenuous. He would recover completely by the next day and not several hours like during the Fifth Holy Grail War.

Merlin stood at his doorway, Shirou glanced at the older Mage.

"Merlin, what has become of the bag I carried with me?"

"I have taken custody of it, and I return it to you," Merlin handed the mage the bag.

"I thank you, Merlin, now I won't be in Food Hell anymore! Has the king called for me?" Shirou queried.

"Not yet, but she intends to meet with you today," Merlin glanced at him.

"I will keep myself busy then," Shirou nodded. The older mage had told him of his encounter with Saber, and that he believed her story. They respected each other, although Shirou disliked his mischievous side immensely.

Shirou headed out into the grand hall, he knew the king was attending to the affairs of state and since he was to meet with her soon, he should wait, but he didn't want to waste his time so he decided to do his normal exercise routine.

He removed his shirt and began his workout with sit-ups.

He thought he heard some giggling behind him and Shirou knew he was being watched; no doubt the maids were eating the eye candy. He'd gotten so used to women watching him over the years that he ignored them completely.

"He's handsome!" one of them whispered," it was one of Guinevere's ladies in waiting.

"It is very well known that Le Fay is stunningly beautiful, why would her pawns not be stunningly handsome?" another answered.

They saw him begin doing push-ups.

"Still, such a shame that the terror of Britain is so alluring, are mages not gods? He certainly has the body of a god!"

"Don't let the Bishop Sansum hear you say such things!" another lady in waiting scolded her.

They sighed in disappointment as Shirou put his shirt back on. They heard footsteps behind them and whirled around.

Queen Guinevere stood before them, they bowed.

"Now go back to your duties, I wish to speak to the mage," Guinevere said quietly.

Shirou bowed to her in Japanese fashion.

"The way you bow, what does it mean?" the Queen asked him.

"The deeper the bow, the deeper the respect, my Lady," Shirou replied. "It is a custom in my home country of Japan." His bow had been a deep one, just the same as when he had bowed before the king.

"So you respect our king then?"

"Yes, my Lady, I hold the king in the highest respect," Shirou replied. He noted the expression on Guinevere's face.

"You hide it well Archer of Red, but I know the look of one who keeps their deep love for someone a secret." She glanced around quickly, "As I love another, so you love another, someone that is unattainable to both of us."

"Since the first day you came to Camelot, when you were little more than a girl, the bride of King Arthur, you saw Lancelot and loved him."

"Speak not his name aloud, the walls have ears and so do men!" she scolded him.

"Forgive me, I have forgotten, long have I studied the tales of this land and of the king, I know the paths of your futures and the fall of Logres, but my presence has changed nothing."

"You come from the future?"

"Yes, and my life has been a hard one, but one of my joys is to study the tales of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table, of Lancelot, and you."

"I see, no doubt your stories of us are grand tales," Guinevere smiled sadly.

"They are; Camelot is where man's dreams and ideals live. The glory of chivalry at its height." Shirou smiled, "when men speak of knights in shining armor, they conjure images of Arthur and Lancelot."

Guinevere smiled in return. "You loved her since you first saw her, since that day on the battlefield?"

"No, since the day I summoned her into my shed, long ago in my own era, during the Fifth Holy Grail War. My voice was stuck in my throat. Maybe it was out of confusion over the insanity around me. No. That wasn't it. I was struck speechless by the overwhelming beauty…of this girl who had appeared before my eye images. I love her more than anything."

Guinevere was deeply moved by his words. All of Britain loved Arthur, not Arturia, and yet somehow this man knew the king's true self and gender, and loved her as a woman, as someone he cared for as a person, and not the image of the perfect king she showed to the subjects of her land. She would have to ask him about this further some other time in private. "You must tell me more in private."

The Queen left him alone.

A servant approached him, "King Arthur wishes to speak to you."

Shirou made his way into the throne room and bowed before her in Japanese fashion, they were all puzzled by the bow, but understood that he was showing Arthur his respect.

"Archer of Red, by what power were you compelled to slaughter my subjects and slay my knights?"

"Morgan Le Fay forced me to kill all the people in those villages using a Command Seal, the knights I slew on the battlefield were of my own volition, and I will always regret that."

"I have never heard of such a spell," Arthur told him, "And I have seen much of Merlin's magic. He has never used a Command Seal."

"Command Seals were developed by a Mage named Zouken Matou. Long after Merlin's departure from Britain."

"I see, and how do you know so much about this Zouken Matou?" Arthur asked.

"I was able to interrogate him about many things, before I killed him."

Arthur was wary; his words seemed to confirm that he was heartless and ruthless with no honor whatsoever.

"Why would you kill him?"

"The Matou family was a very despicable family of Mages; they would adopt another mage from the Tohsaka family and perform horrific experiments on her, and that was not the worst of abuses and tortures she suffered. Every day the older brother Shinji Matou would rape his adopted sister Sakura Matou, out of envy because she was chosen to be the Matou family heir."

Murmurs of disapproval and outrage filled the room. Mages were often of noble blood and of royal families, or they were supernatural creatures like Merlin, and it disturbed them that they would be so cruel to their own kind.

"Sakura is a sweet girl, she always smiled and was very sweet on me in my youth, it took her a very long time for her to open up to me about the horrific things she went through, but once I found out what her grandfather put her through I found him and destroyed his body utterly and then I discovered where his true form was hidden, I removed him from inside Sakura's body, and crushed the pathetic worm to death under my boot. I may kill, but only if the threat is too dangerous and there is no other option. Killing gives me no pleasure, and I am not a man given to wanton cruelty. My greatest desire in life is to protect others."

The mage's troubling story made her pause; he seemed to be very protective of those close to him, "Regarding these Command Seals, they can force you to do anything against your will? Even kill others?"

"Yes, a Command Seal can compel a Servant to follow any command, as long as it is a specific command. It does not compel absolute obedience in a Servant."

"And what gives this Command Seal its power?" Arthur asked.

"The Holy Grail, not the cup of Christ, but they say it is an omnipotent wish-granting device."

"I have my doubts Archer, it sounds outlandish," the king was skeptical.

"I tell you nothing but the truth."

"Le Fay would want this Holy Grail to grant a wish for her."

"You may go now, Archer of Red," Arthur dismissed him.

The next night, they continued the weeklong feast celebrating Archer's defeat. Shirou found it odd for him to be there at all, but the nobles found him to be a fascinating oddity, they were showing him off like a trophy, he supposed. They stole sidelong glances at him as he was brought a small portion of food. He was actually grateful, Camelot was a grand place, but he was trapped in Food Hell until he could persuade someone to let him into the kitchen to cook food that didn't taste like soggy cracker.

They noticed how he knelt at the small table and that he traced chopsticks to eat, even though he hadn't eaten at all.

"Call for the minstrel, have him tell us a story," Arthur called out.

The minstrels looked at the king nervously. "We have no new stories or tales for you my king."

"We cannot begin this feast unless we have a story first," Arthur frowned. "It is a tradition."

"I you can tell you one, your highness," Shirou stood up, "If you will permit me."

"Go on; tell your story, Archer."

Shirou met her gaze, "My name is Shirou, Shirou Emiya. Please King Arthur, address me as such."

"Very well then, Shirou," Arthur told him. The sound of his name was pleasing to her ears, though she did not know why and she would never admit it aloud.

Shirou made his way up to the balcony so that his voice could be heard through the vast dining hall.

"There aren't any clergymen or women here are there?" Shirou queried.

All the men laughed, the women were holding a separate banquet and the clergy had turned down invitations to come to the feast.

"I have to tell you that I am not from this era that I was born in a distant country in a distant future, but I will tell you a story by the father of English poetry, Geoffrey Chaucer. He had the gift of satire and irony."

"An angel takes a friar down to Hell. And the friar looks around and says, "Oh I can't see any friars around here. Does that mean we all go to Heaven?"

"And the angels says, "Nuh-uh, 'fraid not. There are plenty of friars around here."

"And he takes the friar to Satan, and he accosts Satan, "Hold up thy tail, thy Satan-ass," said he, "Show forth thine ass and let the friar see where is the nest of friars in this place!"

"And ere and half a furlong way of space, right so as bees come swarming from a hive. Out of the Devil's ass, began to drive 20,000 friars in a rout, and all about Hell they swarm-ed al about, and came again as fast as they may gone, up the Devil's ass they crept in, every John."

Shiirou continued telling Geoffrey Chaucer's tale of The Summoner, until he was finished.

Bowing, he returned to his seat and no one said a word, until of all the knights to react to the tale, Sir Galahad began laughing.

"What is the significance of Geoffrey Chaucer?" Galahad laughed.

"If not for Chaucer, all of this country would still be speaking French."

"Did the French take Britain?" Gareth asked, shocked.

"No, but the king who did conquer Britain spoke French and so the royal court spoke it for several hundred years."

There was a murmur among the men, but then Arthur called for the feast to begin, and they all put Shirou's words out of their minds.

They gawked at him like one gawked at a monkey at the zoo, but all he did was bow and say, "itadakimasu", which meant, "I gratefully receive" and began eating, yes he would be grateful, even if he was in Food Hell.

The feast was lively, and even though he was with separated from the nobles he enjoyed observing them, discussing politics and tourneys and other such things.

Still, he grew suspicious as his eyes fell on a knight he recognized from the stories as Maleagant, the knight who abducted Queen Guinevere shortly before the fall of Camelot. He was staring at Queen Guinevere in a way that any man with a brain knows he definitely has sex on his mind.

 _He can't be stupid enough to_ leer _at Guinevere in front of Arturia—_

It took all of Shirou's self control not to let his mouth hang open. Maleagant was _leering_ at Guinevere right in from of Saber!

He might as well have had a big neon sign that said, "I'm horny and stupid enough to show it" above his head.

Shirou knew Saber could be very jealous. He recalled the time he'd brought Illya to live in the Emiya household after Saber had helped him defeat Berserker. Her jealousy had been petty, but this was different, and much more disturbing.

Shirou observed the Queen's discomfort, and noticed how she used her body language to catch the king's attention without alerting the leering knight.

Arthur turned to Guinevere and took her hand and held it, "Is something wrong Guinevere?"

Shirou couldn't hear them, but he was good at reading lips.

Sir Maleagant would only see the king being affectionate with his wife.

"I feel Sir Maleagant's eyes on me, please my Lord make him leave!" Guinevere was clearly nervous.

"So you see it too, then," Arthur squeezed her hand. "I will confront him myself!"

"Good evening Sir Maleagant, enjoying the feast?" Arthur asked in a friendly tone.

"Uh—yes," Sir Maleagant replied quickly. He wished he could vomit the food up, but wouldn't say so.

"And the company?" Arthur queried.

"Very much so," Maleagant replied, before he _realized_ his mistake.

"And yet your eyes stray only to the Queen, my _wife_!" Arthur hissed.

"Is it wrong to love the most beautiful woman in all of Britain?" Maleagant tried to make it seem like it wasn't what it appeared to be.

"Love? Young men's love then lies not truly in their hearts, but in their eyes! You would gaze on my Queen with such naked lust in front of me?! You thought you could hide your case of the horn?!"

The knights drew their swords and stood up, prepared to do battle.

"Sir Lancelot, Sir Gawain, get him out of my sight, I won't kill him, but I won't forget this, you despicable letch!"

The meal quieted for awhile but soon they resumed their feasting.

The nobles were impressed by his table manner, despite the way he sat, he still ate with dignity and poise, and smirked at his use of wooden sticks to eat, calling him arrogant and vain, but he ignored them, he was eating a meal and in the presence of the one he had searched for, so despite his circumstances, he would be content with his meal that tasted worse than a soggy cracker, because _she_ was there.

* * *

The next day was Llacheu's birthday and four of Arthur's sons made their way into the kitchen, searching for drinks when they found Shirou hovering over a glass bottle, which they had never seen before and were fascinated by, but they were more interested in the contents of the 2002 Chateau Latour "Les Fortes de Latour" Bertan than the glass bottle.

They noticed the sad, wistful expression on Shirou's face, as if he were thinking of something that he missed, probably the world from which his fascinating gadgets came from. They had never truly understood what the things in his bag were, but they that they were machines that couldn't possibly exist in this time period.

"Have some, it's better shared among friends," Shirou laughed.

"You should have a sorrowful look on your face, after all," Amhar taunted. "Since my father bested you in battle and humiliated you!"

"Be quiet Amhar," Loholt scowled, "Better we win the Archer's friendship than continue to antagonize him."

"A drinking song, Shirou, one of those raunchy bawdy songs of yours!" Duran laughed.

"You enjoy those _way_ too much," Gwydre nudged Duran.

So Shirou sang.

 _All you good people, a story I'll tell  
A song I will sing, how a wonder me belle  
A. charming young maiden was wed in the Fall.  
She married a man who had no balls at all._

 _No balls at all. No balls at all.  
She married a man who had no balls at all._

 _The night of the wedding she leaped into bed.  
Her breasts were a-heaving; her legs were a spread.  
She reached for his manhood; his manhood was small.  
She reached for his balls; he had no balls at all._

 _No balls at all. No balls at all.  
She married a man who had no balls at all._

 _"Oh mother, oh mother, oh, what shall I do?  
I've married a man who's unable to screw.  
For many long years, I've avoided the call,  
Now I've married a man who has no balls at all."_

 _No balls at all. No balls at all.  
She married a man who had no balls at all._

 _"Oh daughter, oh daughter, now don't feel so sad;  
I had the same trouble with your dear old dad.  
There are lots of young men who will answer the call  
Of the wife of a man who has no balls at all."_

 _No balls at all. No balls at all.  
She married a man who had no balls at all._

 _The daughter sampled the men one by one  
And soon discovered that bouncing was fun  
She bounced at the house, and the barn and the stalls  
So let's all marry men who have no balls at all!_

 _No balls at all. No balls at all.  
She married a man who had no balls at all._

Llacheu strolled in with a beautiful woman. "Brothers, I have brought us one of Camelot's lovely geese."

Shirou knew that Camelot was also known much later as the city of Winchester, and the term Winchester Geese is what they called their prostitutes.

"What's your name beautiful?" Llacheu asked.

"Arivere," the young woman murmured nervously. "I can entertain you as you wish for a price."

"So _that's_ what they call it these days, huh?" Shirou laughed.

 _Llacheu_ looked at Shirou sheepishly, "Well, I thought perhaps we could give her some time with you, your sad countenance says you could use some pleasure from a woman, but I forgot you've lost your member."

"Don't be ridiculous!" Shirou scoffed. "I'm a man as much as you, and your assertions that I am not are as ridiculous as a dragon fighting a dolphin!"

"So you can perform then," Amhar mocked him.

"You expect me to take her, with an audience watching?"

"Prove your virility to us, and then I'll not mock you anymore," Amhar laughed.

"And here I thought my first time was an awkward one, I wish I _would_ be trapped in that ruined church with Rin and Saber over being stuck with the five of you and a hooker, and at least I could tolerate Rin Tohsaka browbeating me for my lack of experience."

"And who is this Rin Tohsaka?" Duran asked curiously.

"She was my master and teacher, she taught me magecraft."

"And Saber?" Loholt added.

"She was a spirit I summoned to my future."

"Was she beautiful?"

Arthur's face did not show emotion, but she wondered curiously what the Archer would say about her.

"'She is the most beautiful woman I've ever seen."

Inwardly, Arthur refused to believe his words were anything more than flattery.

"Two women at once, you _are_ a heathen," Loholt laughed.

"If only I could be so lucky!" Llacheu sighed.

"I did not have sex because I wanted to, I did it because I _had_ to do it, to keep Saber from disappearing, and it wasn't as nice as whatever you're thinking of, it was the most awkward night of my life!"

Arthur clenched her teeth and the realization that the Archer dared to say that he was the man who had taken her virginity! As if she would _ever_ lie with _him_ , of all people! He was making the outlandish claim as a boast to her sons.

Even if she had the pleasure of living her life as her true gender, she would _never_ give herself to him willingly.

They teased the mage, taunting him to drop his trousers, she tried to ignore them, but no one was concentrating on their duties at the moment.

Arthur contemplated going upstairs barging in, but it _was_ Llacheu's birthday, and she only indulged her son's on their birthdays. Llacheu's reputation as one of the most well endowed man in Britain had garnered him a reputation with women, and it was something she'd rather he not had.

She heard her sons laughing and carousing, but suddenly she heard Loholt's shocked voice.

"Shirou, you cannot put your mouth between a woman's legs! It's humiliating for a man!

"Do I look humiliated, and what does it matter to you what I do with her? Why does it bother you that I go down on a woman?" Shirou asked sarcastically.

"Have you no shame at all?" Loholt asked.

Arthur heard the woman's loud screams from the lower floor.

"Brother, he has none, but, she sure enjoys it," Gwydre laughed. "I have never heard a woman scream so loudly!"

"Is it his magecraft that makes him so good at pleasing a woman?" Duran asked. "All the maids and female servants gaze at him like love struck lunatics!"

"He's a pervert and he bathes like an indulgent Roman heathen," Gwydre noted.

"And yet all the women say he smells delightful," _Llacheu observed._

"He's undignified and indecent," Amhar snarled jealously. "It _must_ be magecraft; no man can be _that_ good with a woman. He also treats them like they're intelligent, as if there is such a thing as an educated prostitute!"

"What does that even _mean_ anyway?" Shirou asked, "You make no sense!"

"But how did his member grow back, we all saw it when he was stripped naked, his virile member was gone! And yet it grew back!" Llacheu was confused.

Arthur's face did not show an expression as the Knights of the Round Table all gazed up at the ceiling.

All of them started chuckling, even the very righteous Galahad.

"It seems we will have to meet tomorrow," Arthur sighed, with all the knights trying not to laugh; there was nothing she could do about it.

The knights got up from the Round Table to go about their business on the castle grounds. Arthur decided to go back to the throne room to think.

She could hear the moaning from upstairs.

"Please sir, you can't be inside me," Arivere's voice was nervous.

"It's all right, you'll be fine, I've never gotten a girl pregnant, much to my own dismay," Shirou sighed.

Her sons were right; she'd never heard a woman scream that loud during lovemaking. And she'd heard quite a bit, since there was very little privacy in the castle, and every so often, she'd wake up to hear a couple making love in the middle of the night. It was utterly frustrating to try to sleep through that.

"Oh, _Shirou!_ " came a groan that bothered her for some reason. Arthur felt an unexplainable sense of resentment come over her. It made her angry, and she didn't know what it was or why she felt that way.

"You're so rough, but it feels so good!" the woman moaned.

"Sorry sweetheart, I forget how aggressive I can be; I'll—slow down a bit."

"Oh fock! It feels too god, Shirou! It's too good! I'm _dying_! God's blood, I'm dying!"

There was a scream and then it was quiet before her sons decided that they should take the woman to another room. Although they did say that they would ask him how he managed to "do that", although she had no idea what " _that_ " was.

Arthur knew she would have to endure the sounds of sex for a much longer period of time, but at least the single woman wasn't nearly as loud as before.

Arthur had to wonder who had brought the indecent woman here; no doubt it was probably Llacheu, as he preferred to bring the women home than enjoy himself at a house of ill repute.

And the people wondered why she could not choose a successor.

Amhar was eager for the throne, he practically begged for it, but he was far too enchanted with the bottle than his duties to his country. He was also very cruel to those he disliked.

Loholt was a fine young man, but he was too ambitious and it was easy to manipulate ambitious people into making reckless decisions.

Duran had ambitions for the throne as well, but he wanted to become a brave knight of great renown, his unending lust for glory troubled her.

Llacheu was a man given to his emotions passions and his lecherous ways would probably contribute to his own downfall.

That left only Gwydre, and Gwydre was the only son worthy to succeed her, but even he was not ready for the throne. He still was hadn't learned enough, and picked up some of Llacheu's bad habits when it came to women.

She sat on her throne deep in thought, and wondered what would become of Camelot in the hands of her son Gwydre and if she was making the right decision regarding her successor.

About an hour later, Arivere made her way out of the castle, keeping her head down.

"Dear lady, have the princes treated you well?" Lancelot asked.

"Yes, they are the sons of Arthur, and they have treated me very well. I apologize for my intrusion into this place. As lovely as this place is, and as good as the people are here, they will never understand what it's like to live away from the peace of Camelot."

The single woman sighed.

"My life is something the King would not understand, always worrying about customers, if you don't please them the way you want, you worry they will beat you half to death, or that they will violate you because they feel like it, I gave you money so get over it. Upright respectable people despise people like me, they will never say so, but they do. To them I am just some punk doing this for money. The king does not understand others, not me or anyone else."

Lancelot bowed formally, always the finest knight in Camelot. "You should not say such things about the King; he tries his best to protect all the people of Britain, even you."

"And I thank him for that, but the king still does not understand others."

Something came to Arivere's mind, "Give this to the Archer of Red, it seems he paid me double by mistake."

Shirou had earned a little money, helping fix things around the castle, much to the inhabitants' surprise.

"It's not a mistake, keep the money, after all, I can't go anywhere, what do I need money for?" Shirou put a hand on her shoulder. She bowed to him.

"You are the sweetest John I've ever had."

Catching sight of the king, she bowed again and left.

Shirou departed as well.

"Lancelot, do people really feel that way about me?"

"Yes, some feel that the king does not understand others."

Arthur said nothing and decided to prepare for bed.

* * *

Arthur Pendragon dreamed once again of that strange era and of Shirou Emiya. She was standing outside a church, dressed in some strange, unflattering coat that hid her armor. She saw Shirou walk outside and look at her.

 _"Shirou, is your business concluded?"_

 _"It is,"_ Shirou replied.

 _"And?"_ Saber prodded.

 _"I've decided I'm gonna fight as a Master,"_ Shirou turned around to face her. _"I need to know if you'll consent to serving a novice like me."_

 _"But my consent is irrelevant,"_ Saber replied. She closed her eyes and smiled, _"You have been my Master from the start. Did I not swear a solemn oath to you, that I would be your blade?"_

What madness had come over her that she would smile at him with such warmth?

 _"Right, thanks,"_ Shirou shut his eyes for a moment and opened them. _"Saber, fight with me to the end."_

He extended his hand to her. "I'll be counting on you."

"What's wrong? You don't want to shake hands?"

Arthur was surprised that he would ask her consent despite the fact that she had already contracted with him.

 _"It's not that. I was simply not expecting it. I was startled."_

She took it and they struck an accord.

 _"I will fight with you Master, so long as you have Command Seals, I will be your trusted blade."_

She realized that her dream confirmed what he had told her about Command Seals. Could she be wrong about him? He was such a contradictory creature. Arthur did not understand why he infuriated her so much.

The king was not s person, people felt emotions, and Shirou was the only pat made her feel emotions, even if they were negative ones, and as someone who suppressed her emotions, she knew that her emotions could lead her kingdom to ruin if she let them carry her away.

The girl was apparently named Rin Tohsaka, and Tohsaka said that they should separate, since she and Shirou were enemies. He argued with her, but suddenly, they were interrupted by a voice coming from above them. There was a white haired girl, standing up at the top of the hill, with a giant of a man beside her.

 _"Good evening, big brother. This is the second time we've met like this, isn't it?"_ the girl asked. Saber was wary, this was an enemy.

 _"This is bad! That thing is way out of our lead!"_ Rin exclaimed.

 _"How do you do Rin? I am Illya."_ The girl curtsied before them politely. Her politeness didn't change the fact that she wanted to kill them. _"Illyasviel Von Einzbern. I assume you've heard of me."_

 _"Einzbern…"_ Rin remembered the name was familiar.

 _"I suppose there's no point making any more introductions. After all, you're all going to die here,"_ she said to them.

 _"Okay, I'm gonna kill you now!"_ she called out to them in a disturbingly cheerful voice. _"Go get them, Berserker!"_

Berserk leapt high and sprang at them with incredible speed for something of his size.

 _"Shirou, get back!"_ Saber shouted, she ran forward, blocking the giant figure's enormous sword with Excalibur.

 _"Saber!"_ Shirou reached out to her as she ran passed him.

Blocking the blow and pushing forward, she forced the giant's sword towards the ground, only to have him pull away and swing it at her. She jumped back. Saber avoided another blow and parried, she ran to the side.

 _"Saber!"_ Shirou called.

"He's swinging around that giant sword like it was a toy!" In exclaimed in awe and horror.

 _"Get her! Get her!"_ Illya shouted with delight.

Arthur wanted nothing more than to kill that brat, she was an evil wench.

Blades clashed and she avoided another strike as she

Ran diagonally and up a strange pole, leaping across to another wall, she sprang up on to the pole with some bizarre metallic material on them, she sprinted across them and he pursued her on the ground.

He slashed the strange ropes she'd been running on, she sprang to the other side and continued running.

She landed in front of the evil girl, she would strike her down, suddenly, she heard the giant of a man, running towards her with a roar.

She managed to parry the blow, but the force of it sent her flying back into a pole.

 _"Saber!"_ Shirou called in a panic.

 _"Berserker! You have her now! Finish her off once and for all!" Illyasviel shouted triumphantly._

Saber pulled herself to her feet, using her sword to keep her steady.

Arthur cursed her weakness in these dreams. She would never have been so easily batted about if she was at her true strength; it was because Shirou was such a pathetic mage in these dreams. It _must_ be his fault.

The monster slammed his sword down, creating a giant crack, she sprang at him. She swung her sword at him and he parried it. She managed to land on her feet, but then felt a sharp pain in her shoulder. She remembered that wound she received from Lancer earlier.

Curse that pathetic Archer of Red. She despised him. He was useless even in her dreams!

"That's—" Shirou remembered that wound too. _"Saber! Don't do it!"_

He ran towards her but Rin pulled him back, stepping in front of him.

 _"Tohsaka?"_ he asked, confused.

She raised her hand and uttered a spell, _"Vier Stil Erschießung!"_

She fired her magic at it repeatedly. The spells bounced off, having no effect on the giant whatsoever.

 _"What the Hell is that thing's body made of?"_ Rin asked in shock.

 _"This is hopeless! Get out of there Saber!"_ Shirou called to her.

Rin continued firing, but it had no effect. The giant swung again, she was running to avoid another attack, but she realized too late she'd left herself open.

Her armor could not protect her from his sword and pain ripped through her body as the blood poured out from her wounds.

She bounced and rolled as she grunted in pain.

"Saber!" Shirou called out to her.

Blood was in her eyes and she could barely see, but she held up her hand in a gesture to stop him.

Even if she despised this man, he was still her Master, and any Servant's duty was to protect their Master.

She steadied herself with her sword, she would continue fighting, any knight worthy of a sword would. This would be a grand adventure under any other circumstances, but she despised him, and wished that he would have died, but he had infiltrated her mind and even her dreams.

She held herself up with her sword, she wouldn't die like this, she'd try at least to kill that thing, even if it killed her too.

" _Why….?"_ He asked her.

All Saber heard was her own breathing.

Illya stepped forward, delighted.

 _"Oh, come on. You can't possibly win. My Berserker here is Greece's most powerful hero."_

 _"Greece's most powerful hero? It can't be!"_ Rin exclaimed.

 _"That's right. What you see before you is the devil named Hercules."_

 _"Hercules?!"_ Rin was horrified.

 _"That's right. He's the most powerful monster there is. He's head and shoulders above any Heroic Spirit the likes of you people could command."_

Illya looked at Berserker, _"All right, Berserker. She's going to regenerate, so chop her head off and then kill her."_

Shirou looked at her.

 _"B-but I…"_ he stammered. " _I can't just…"_ Suddenly, he sprang forward. _"Why, you…!"_

He did something that stunned her completely; he pulled her out of the way of Berserker's blade and shoved her away from him.

She saw the blade effortlessly cut through his stomach, blowing it out of his body! How was he still alive?! That should have killed him!

She heard him screaming in agony.

 _Why? Why did he do that? Why would he protect me? The Archer of Red is a heartless monster…_

She could only gaze down at him as he lay wide eyed in a pool of his own blood.

Arthur heard her voice call to him in panic. She was panicked over him! _"Shirou! Shirou!"_

 _"Why did he do that?"_ Illya asked.

Arthur asked herself that question too.

That was when she woke up.

Arthur sat up in her bed, panting and sweating from that disturbing dream. She didn't understand; that man protected her, and he had been so helpless. Was he the heartless monster she had seen slaughtering her knights in a rage, or was he that helpless boy who protected her from the Heroic spirit, the Berserker Hercules? Shirou Emiya caused her nothing but turmoil, and for the first time in her life, she didn't know what to do.


	8. The Darkest Shadow of Camelot

**The Darkest Shadow of Camelot**

 ** _Author's Note:_** _11,185 views and 117 favorites! Thank you so much!_

 _Everyone's weirded out because Shirou's slept with a hooker, well, the medieval time period which is my favorite era has very different views on what kind of sex is okay. Prostitution was considered a necessary evil to supposedly a sexual outlet to keep single men from raping upper-class and noblewomen, which is stupid, but it's really how they thought back then._

 _Shirou has learned supplementary magecraft, I just haven't put it in the story yet._

 _People keep calling the previous chapter bad, and saying that the story's bad because of it, but when people write their "Shirou time travels back to Medieval Britain" stories, everyone seems to base them off the idealistic image we all have of King Arthur in our heads, and the "they all love Shirou automatically" makes him feel very Gary Stu-ish, so I'm subverting that too._

 _King Arthur also has a temper in the stories and people really don't show that in fanfic a lot, probably because she hit the off button on her emotions in the Nasuverse._

 _So far, from what I noticed the Nasuverse Arthur has most of the same background for Saber as the King Arthur stories, other than Merlin's prank of turning her into a guy for awhile and the idea that the people thought she was a demon with no emotions because she suppress it._

 _Yeah, this story's dark, but it won't stay that way, but it's gonna be pretty dark._

 _Perhaps I'm also poking fun at all the "Grim dark Fate/Zero is the only good Fate series" people too. The reason I loved Fate/Stay Night after watching Fate/Zero (I got into the series in chronological order) is because the while Fate/zero sucks all the life out of idealism, the Fate Route, the anime and the visual novel, and Unlimited Blade works, both breathe life back into idealism. Heaven's Feel is going to be so fun, because I'll get my anti-hero fix from it._

 _Sir Morien is not something I made up, he's a knight from Celtic folktales, and he's awesome. He's a Moor, a black guy, who is apparently taller than Lancelot, joined the Round Table at age 14, and he's the tallest Knight of all of them. His story is available to read online, but it's in painfully old English._

* * *

Shirou sighed as he lay in his bed. It had been a wild night, and he couldn't blame it on the wine either.

"Could I be regretting it, just a little?" he asked himself.

Shirou knows he should regret it, that by the morals of the 21st century, he's technically cheated on Saber, but he'd been so miserable, he'd tried everything to cheer himself up; he'd gone about the castle, searching for someone to help. Only two people accepted his help, and they paid him more so he would stay away from them.

Shirou had tried to sleep, but voices and images of all the people he'd killed kept him awake ever since he'd come to Camelot, he'd been able to sleep on the way because he'd been bone tired, but now sleep fled from him.

Shirou thought that his life would improve once he found Saber, but it hadn't, thanks to the fact that he'd snapped and killed 100 of her knights in a rage. The deaths of the villagers at his hands via Command Seal, she would probably forgive, but the blood on his hands because of his rage, she never forgave that. It was only because of Merlin that he was alive and allowed to stay there, as he was, technically in Merlin's custody not Arthur's.

Arthur was not merciful when dispensing justice, she, according to the stories, banished the Knight Balin after he slew the Lady of the Lake who had arrived at Camelot asking for his head, because he took a sword from a damsel who had stolen it from her.

In a fit of madness Balin had decapitated the Lady of the Lake, and disgusted and outraged, Arthur had banished him from Britain, telling him she would never forgive him for what he had done in her court.

How much more did she loathe him and despise him, a man who had murdered so many innocents and slain her knights in a fit of madness?

Shirou knew that that his beloved Saber was Arturia Pendragon, the long suppressed personality of a little girl who had lived as a man all her life.

The woman who had stood over him in judgment was King Arthur, the noble, good, wise, perfect king. Fall of Logres had not broken her yet.

Shirou had never felt so alone. He was deprived of everything that could bring him joy, his family and friends he'd come to rely on, everyone refused his help, he tried to talk to Merlin, but the mage was either spacing out or babbling on about love, something Shirou felt very deprived of. And the one happy place he could find solace outside of Saber's presence, the kitchen, had been denied him.

Shirou had decided that 2002 Chateau Latour "Les Fortes de Latour" Bertan would keep him company, only to have Arthur's sons arrive looking for a drink.

He'd only expected to have a friendly drink with them, not Llacheu arriving with a hooker in tow. He knew the right thing would be to walk out, to let them have their fun, but he wanted something to take his mind off the horrible traumas he'd suffered for a month, none of them knew he'd been Le Fay's prisoner, and he hadn't wanted to talk about it either.

So he'd had drunken sex with a hooker, it helped him cope with all the traumatic stress he'd been going through, and it made him feel better, even if it was just for a little while, the solace he felt afterword had been soothing. He assuaged his guilt over physical disloyalty to Saber by paying double. At least he could feel like he was helping her.

Shirou drifted off to sleep.

 _"Shirou, are you all right?"_ Saber cradled his head in her lap. She was on his bed, smiling at him.

 _"How can you smile at me? I've been disloyal to you,"_ Shirou gazed up at her.

 _"In my time period, prostitutes were considered to be a necessary evil, an outlet to keep men from running rampant, raping and disgracing noblewomen."_

 _"But that's ridiculous!"_ Shirou exclaimed.

 _"To people of your era yes, but is how the people of my time thought of them._

 _"I'm sorry…I know I shouldn't have done that, but I needed something to just make me feel like someone needed me, it made me feel good, and that's all I wanted in that moment."_

 _"Shirou, it doesn't make me think any less of you."_

 _"You already think less of me, King Arthur sees me as a monster."_

 _"King Arthur also sees that you are a typical man and men have their vices. But my view of you is changing Shirou, it is changing because you are there with me, and I will see your true nature. Since you must hear it from me now, I forgive you, because you were in need of solace, and that is something I can understand, just don't let my sons goad you into it again."_

 _"I won't Saber, and please remember that I love you, even if I'm terrible at showing you I'm nothing more than a hypocrite and a fraud. I am the contradiction that is Shirou Emiya. Forgive me, for being so weak!"_

 _"I forgive you Shirou, but please bear in mind, I have a very bad jealous streak, it is unwise to make me feel that way._

 _"Why would you be jealous?"_ Shirou asked.

 _"We have a bond you and I, I just don't know it yet."_

 _"I'll remember that,"_ Shirou smiled, she kissed him on the lips and he finally drifted off into a sleep without nightmares.

* * *

Shirou awoke the next day, feeling much lighter, like a burden had been lifted off his shoulders.

Tbemporarily anyway, he wouldn't truly feel free until she forgave him.

He bought some wood from the woodcutter and began preparing to make a Fletcher to create arrows.

Still working away at the Fletcher, he looked up to see a pair of knights dismount inside the courtyard.

"Sir Mordred, and Sir Morien, welcome back! Is all well with you both?" Lancelt.

Mordred spotted Shirou and glared at him. Shirou held his tongue, best to not antagonize someone who was known as "The Knight of Treachery" without having a backup plan to avoid being stabbed in the back, both metaphorically and literally.

"You should have called me to the battlefield when you confronted the Archer of Red, I would have slain him swiftly, but the King has foolishly spared his life, should you betray us, I will swiftly gut you!"

 _That's amusing coming from a traitor,_ Shirou thought, his face betrayed nothing.

"I go now to the king, to tell him of my great deeds," Mordred bragged loudly.

Amhar rolled his eyes, "Brother, can you speak _any_ louder? It seems I can't hear you."

"Amhar, are you _actually_ sober? Astonishing!" Mordred taunted.

"Shut up, you bastard!" Amhar snarled.

"Oh, I am Arthur's _true_ son, far more worthy of being called the King's son than _you_ , Amhar the Drunkard!"

Amhar rushed Mordred tackling him to the ground, they could never remove his helmet, but he did attempt to go for strikes to the groin.

Shirou knew Mordred's true gender because of the dreams he had of Saber's past, but not even her brother's knew she was female. Not that it mattered, she was going toe to toe with Amhar, but then again, he wasn't quite as skilled as his siblings. He wondered if the universe gave the man E-Rank luck to be funny.

Llacheu, Loholt and Duran jumped in the fray, if one thing united all of Arthur's sons, it was that they despised Mordred.

Gwydre only watched, sighing, Mordred had taken a strange liking to him, as in, he never insulted him, in fact, he never spoke a word to him, and he hoped he'd never have to hear him say something to him at all. Like his brother's, he disliked Mordred, but chose to ignore him as it was the best course of action.

"Royal families are so screwed up!" Shirou sighed.

It could be worse though. Shirou knew of the Biblical story of King David, slayer of the giant Goliath, the author of Psalm 23, the "Man after God's own heart". The most famous king in Israel had a really screwed up family.

David committed adultery with Basheba after seeing her naked from his roof while she was bathing, got her pregnant and tried to get her husband Uriah drunk so he'd go home and sleep with his wife, and when that didn't work, he arranged for a convenient death for Uriah by letting him be shot down by enemy archers. Confronted by Nathan the prophet, he repented, but his actions meant that his family life would be Hell from now on.

It started when Amnon raped his half sister Tamar, the king was supposed to execute him, but didn't do anything. So Absalom her brother had his servants kill Amnon when he was drunk. Three years later, he successfully stole the kingdom from David's kingdom from him by winning over all the people.

Mordred was like Absalom in many ways, in some of the stories; he was even Guinevere's lover. Then again, Absalom _did_ pitch a tent and sleep with his father's concubines to be "obnoxious to his father", still, the similarities were eerie, but Mordred didn't die because of having long hair and being stuck in a tree so that David's commander, Joab could take revenge for Absalom burning down his fields by throwing three javelins through his heart, disobeying the king's orders to spare his life.

By comparison, Saber's family wasn't nearly as bad as that.

Mordred got up and strode away as the four knights lay on the ground, groaning in pain and cursing the knight as she sauntered off, basically giving the medieval equivalent of the middle finger, biting her thumb, although she didn't remove her helmet to actually do so, she just put her thumb where her mouth should be and flipped them off with it.

She left them.

They got up and dusted themselves off.

They finally noticed Shirou, and came over to watch him carve the Fletcher.

"Is that a Fletcher, Shirou?" Sir Lancelot asked.

"Yes," Shirou replied. "And why would the greatest knight of Camelot, Sir Lancelot Du Lac wish to to speak to me?"

"Because I am the bravest man here, everyone else is too afraid to talk to you, other than Merlin and the king's sons."

"I see, is there anything I can help you with sir?"

"You can satisfy my curiosity about you, you seem lost in thought."

"I was just thinking about my life, that's all."

"About what, exactly?"

"Memories of my past have faded, I don't remember my biological parents or much of my childhood before I was adopted, but one sight that stayed with me all this time. The flames and the pervasive stench of death, wishing for help when there was none. What I felt when the wish was granted but most of all, I remember the look of relief on Kiritsugu Emiya's face when he saved me."

"I remember the look on his face, the tears in his eyes," Shirou glanced at Sir Lancelot, "over finding someone alive in the rubble. A man filled with joy, from the bottom of his heart. He looked so happy to me; it was almost as though it had been him that had been saved that day, and not me."

Shirou continued speaking, "He kept saying, "He's alive! He's alive! He's alive," And then, so fervently, even as I teetered on the brink of death, I felt jealous of him. He said, "Thank you." That he was glad he'd found someone, that by saving even one person, he had saved himself."

"I have been searching for all of you," Arthur called to her sons as they turned their attention to her. "We have many things to discuss."

She began to chastise them for picking fights with Mordred, although the arrogant knight hadn't said a word, she knew they all fought amongst themselves if Mordred was around.

She also chastised them for not having their armor maintained by their arming squires.

Shirou had been listening to Arthur's tirade and lectures to her sons and noted that it was in Latin. He had been confused when he heard a certain word keep coming up, but then he realized what the Latin word for sheath was and he about died laughing.

He remembered when Saber had held him in her arms and told him, "You were my scabbard," now in Japanese it wasn't nearly as funny, but in Latin the phrase was, _"Tu mihi in vaginam."_ Yes, the woman he loved had called him a vagina, a word which had a completely different meaning in the modern era, and he was grateful that the Grail had permitted Saber to speak Japanese so that there was no language barrier between them.

"Shirou, be quiet will you?" Arthur scowled.

"Forgive me, I'll not bother you anymore," he said, returning to his carving.

"There is something I must tell you," Arthur began, still speaking in Latin. "I have chosen Gwydre as my successor."

"But father—" Amhar protested.

"Silence, Amhar! This is my decision and nothing you can do will change it!" Arthur snapped. She turned and walked away.

"I knew he would pick Gwydre," Duran sighed.

"This is outrageous! It's not fair!" Amhar seethed. "I've _always_ done what he's asked of me. I'm the eldest son! I deserve it, instead he chooses Gwydre, the baby of the family!"

"Technically, Mordred is the oldest!" Gwydre pointed out.

"That bastard is not Guinevere's son!" Amhar seethed. "The throne was mine by right of succession!"

"But Father does not age; Gwydre will never sit on the throne!" Loholt remembered.

"It's just a sham, just lies to make us feel like we're important to him!" Amhar seethed.

"I'm quite happy about this decision, I don't have those responsibilities! Princes have all the fun!" Llacheu laughed.

"I'm disappointed, I was hoping to be chosen," Loholt glanced at them. "At least he didn't choose Mordred!"

 _"Shut up!"_ The other four shouted. They turned and left, Amhar was the last to leave the courtyard.

Suddenly as he passed through the door, Mordred leaned in close and whispered. "Father has _always_ been a hypocrite and a fraud, and now you've finally seen it for yourself!"

Arthur's eldest son said nothing as he passed by, Mordred went outside to the stables, Shirou figured she'd made some excuse for leaving to the king so she could ride off to Tugan to gloat to mommy.

"The dark is generous and it is patient. It is the dark that seeds cruelty to justice; that drips contempt into compassion. That poisons love with grains of doubt. The dark can be patient, because the slightest drop of rain will cause those see to sprout. The rain will come and the seeds will sprout, for the dark is the soil in which they grow and it is the clouds above them, and that waits behind the star that gives them light. The dark's patience is infinite. Eventually, even the stars burn out," Shirou said to himself.

This was the beginning, there was nothing but tragedy in store for Arthur's sons, and he didn't think he'd be able to do anything about it.

* * *

Merlin saw the Iron-Wrought Mage approach him.

"Is there something you need Shirou?" Merlin asked.

"I need to talk to you about Arturia," Shirou began.

"What about her?"

"Now Uther Pendragon was lord of Britain. He held a great feast, and among those present was Gorlois, Duke of Cornwall, with his wife Igraine, the greatest beauty in all of Britain. When the king cast his eyes on her, he fell madly in love. Her husband, discovering this, retired angrily from the court. He put his wife away into the castle of Tintagel by the seashore, a place of the greatest safety."

Shirou continued to circle the Mage of Flowers, scowling at Merlin. The court magician said nothing. Shirou was glad Arturia was not in the room. For all the good Merlin did, his need to meddle and dubious motivations had always bothered Shirou.

"Then King Uther said to the wizard Merlin, "My passion for Igraine is such, that if I do not possess her, I will go mad with desire."

The Mage of Flowers was surprised that the Wrought-Iron Mage knew that, Arthur's conception was known to only a few.

"And Merlin said, "I have a magic potion that will make you appear the exact likeness of her husband, and you can go to her."

"The king drank the potion, and he went to Tintagel, and he was let in. And he stayed all night making passionate love to her, for she was deceived by Merlin's magic."

"What of it? Britain needed a good king, a better king than Uther Pendragon."

"You helped a man rape a woman through deception!"

"You paid for sex while the woman you loved was right below you, where she could hear you!"

"Touché," Shirou sighed.

"You are a fraud and a hypocrite, Shirou Emiya, a walking contradiction!"

"I know that quite well, but I was weak, I thought I could hold out, that I could remain loyal to her, and I thought I could, but it was all too much! All the stress and the nightmares, I needed solace, and not even she blames me for that!"

"Perhaps not your Saber, but Arthur values loyalty above all else, what will you do for your penance to her? For your physical disloyalty, for all the people you've killed?!"

"I'll think of something," Shirou said. He headed upstairs; he knew what he had to do.

Later, Merlin found Arthur, sitting alone on her throne, deep in thought. A servant had come several times saying that Shirou Emiya wished to speak with her, she'd told the servant to send him away.

"Will you not speak to him, Arturia?" Merlin asked. "I have questioned him on many things and he is an honest lad, he grieves for the people he has slain, not just the villagers, but the 100 knights he slew in a rage."

"Talk to Shirou Emiya and learn the truth for yourself," Merlin said in a patient voice.

"Talk? Talk is for lovers, Merlin!" Arthur snapped. "I have heard him talk. His life should have been snuffed out, but it was saved in order to cause me grief!"

"That's your father talking; I never thought I would hear his words out of _your_ mouth!"

"Merlin," Shirou spoke as he walked into the room. "I have something for you."

The king and the Mage of Flowers looked up at him in surprise.

He tossed the Mage of Flowers a scroll.

Merlin opened the scroll and began reading, his eyes widened.

"This is a self-Geass scroll!"

Merlin explained to the king, "A powerful magical item, that has been used throughout the ages to forge an absolutely unbreakable pact between one mage and another."

He began reading, "Binding Spell…Affected Party: Shirou Emiya. The Crest of the Emiya family orders the following actions. The pledge is to be obeyed by the affected party upon the fulfillment of the terms described herein. That Shirou, adopted son of Kiritsugu, sixth heir to the house of Emiya, will be forever forbidden from harming…King Arthur, the Knights of the Round Table and all the peoples of the realm of Britain, or from intending to, by his hand, harm or cause them or injure them or cause them pain in any way whatsoever."

"Terms…" Merlin gasped in shock.

"I will no longer live my life as the Archer of Red; I shall sacrifice the ordinary pleasures of my life in benefit of the king for eternity."

Arthur briefly saw an image flash before her eyes. She could see herself standing in a field of gold, she was stunned, it was Avalon, the realm of Fairies, where only the greatest of kings were taken when they died. She could see Shirou Emiya kneeling before her, his face buried in her belly, weeping and begging her forgiveness.

 _"You will no longer live your life as the Archer of Red; you shall sacrifice the ordinary pleasures of your life in benefit of the king for eternity."_

She blinked in shock, but didn't say a word, he heard her gasp, and he knew she had a vision of some sort.

Shirou had not been able to inherit Kiritisugu Emiya's Magic Crest, but he considered himself to be the heir of the Emiya house, his own Magic Crest was now the Crest of the Emiya house. The Mages Association didn't consider him to be the sixth heir but Shirou saw himself as Kiritsugu's son. Besides, it didn't really matter to him whether they gave him the title or not.

"Why would you do this? Damn your soul in a contract for me?" Arthur asked him.

"As atonement, for everything." He turned and left in silence.

* * *

Arturia Pendragon was lost in a melancholy dream. It was not about Shirou Emiya.

 _A loud voice cried, "The King! The King!"_ as Uther Pendragon strode through the hall.

He strode into the room where Igraine lay in bed with a baby in her arms.

 _"What is it Lady?"_

 _"A girl,"_ Igraine replied.

 _Uther was stunned, this wasn't what he wanted! He needed a son, a proper heir to his throne!_

 _He glanced at Morgan, "Get out!"_

 _"She's only a child,"_ Igraine protested for her eldest daughter's sake.

 _"Out!"_

The young girl left.

 _"She watches me with her father's eyes. Is it mine or his?"_

 _"A man came to me; he loved me, and made this child. I thought he was my husband, but he was already dead."_

Uther took the baby in his arms and gazed at her. He couldn't help but love her a little, in his own fashion; she would be beautiful, just like her mother. If only she were the younger child and not the elder, he would have been overjoyed.

 _"All I know is how to butcher men, from now on I shall learn to love them. I am weary of battle, we will try again; I shall stay by her side, and her mothers."_

 _He smiled and laughed, "She's hungry!"_ he handed the baby back to Igraine. She began to feed the baby.

Uther saw flowers bloom as Merlin walked into the room.

 _"Merlin! You come when you're not asked, and pay no heed when I call you!"_

 _"Oh I have slept for nine moons, what I did for you wasn't easy, magic potions take a lot out of me."_

 _He walked toward the king, "Now you must pay me. The child is mine! You made an oath!"_

 _"They were hasty words, Merlin!"_ Uther protested. _"This is flesh and blood!"_

 _"Uther, is this true?"_ Igraine asked, shocked _. "Don't let him take the child!"_

 _"I swore an oath, Igraine! I made a pact with Merlin!"_

 _"It_ was _you! You came to me that night! You are the father!"_

 _"It's not for you, Uther, hearth and home, wife and child," Merlin gazed at him._

Uther got up, turning around he walked toward the magician, placing his hand on a pillar. _"To kill and be king, is that all?"_

 _"Perhaps, not even that,"_ Melrin replied.

 _"You strike me with words hard as steel!"_

 _"You betrayed Gorlois, you stole his wife, you took his castle. Now no one trusts you. You're not the one Uther!"_

 _"But she's a girl! A girl can't be the one! The king must be a boy!"_

 _"The king's gender doesn't matter,"_ Merlin shrugged.

 _"Give me the child, I will protect her,"_ Merlin told him.

Uther looked at Igraine and Igraine looked at the baby. Uther walked over to her and took the baby from her arms.

 _Igraine began to sob, "_ NO _! Why?!"_

 _Uther's anger flared up and he raged at Merlin._

 _She could see herself begin to cry._

 _"Take her! Take the Devil child!"_ Uther shouted.

Her mother reached for her father, _"No, why the baby?!"_

Uther slammed his fist into the pillar. Igraine threw herself onto the bed, sobbing. _"Go after him!"_

Merlin began to soothe the baby as he held her in his arms, _"That's it. Sleep now."_

 _"Go after him!"_ Igraine's voice could be heard screaming. _"Get her back!"_

 _"Are you the mother and father of the baby now Merlin?"_ Morgan asked curiously.

 _"I want my baby! Get her back!"_

Arturia could hear her mother sobbing…

Arthur Pendragon snapped awake, panting and sweating. There were rumors that the Queen had died by poisoning like her husband Uther. Still, others said she'd died of grief over the loss of two husbands and the child that had that mysteriously disappeared. Arthur sighed, she couldn't go back to sleep after that disturbing dream.

She got up. She wandered into the kitchen. She heard a voice singing quietly. To her surprise, it was Shirou Emiya.

 _When we met the pain stood still  
It was us_

 _Then suddenly it's where'd you go?  
The system blew I knew_

 _This side of me I want a little more  
But inside it seems I'm just a little boy  
Nothing else_

 _Don't go it's a mighty long fall  
When you thought love was the top  
Oh no it's a wakeup call  
When your life went into shock  
It seems like gravity keeps pulling us back down  
Don't go it's a mighty long fall  
When you know time is up_

 _uso wo hitotsuai wo futatsu  
sorede nantoka yari sugoshite kita desho?  
demo soreja mou boku wo damasenai desho?  
ja dou suru? dou shiyo!_

 _Don't go it's a mighty long fall  
When you thought love was the top  
Oh no it's a wakeup call  
When your life went into shock  
egaki tagarina mirai ni asu wa nai  
isso douse itamu nara itame tsuzukeyou  
tsuzukeyou!_

 _Get up Get up Get up Get up  
Time to make amends for what you did  
Get up Get up Get up Get up  
Running with the demons in your head  
Let's shout it out completely  
You never really wanna know  
Let's shout it out we're screaming oh oh_

 _Don't go it's a mighty long fall  
When you thought love was the top  
Oh no it's a wakeup call  
When your life went into shock  
It seems like gravity keeps pulling us back down  
Don't go it's a mighty long fall  
When you know time is up_

 _Don't go, don't go, don't go, don't go..._

She was curious, she'd never seen an oven that small before, all the ovens in the castle were large and too big to carry, but his was tiny, and yet it seemed to cook food very well.

He was cooking a soup and it smelled wonderful, she felt her stomach growl.

"You're hungry," Shirou laughed. "The soup is done."

"What is it?" Arthur queried, she didn't recognize anything in it.

"It's called Misou soup, it's from my home country, I'm surprised the ingredients lasted this long."

She took a bite, it was excellent, "It's good."

Arthur had never tasted food so delicious in her life. She slowly savored every bite. She noted Shirou's contented expression as he watched her eat. He seemed happy and she wondered why, but didn't voice her thoughts to him.

"Shirou, is something wrong?" Arthur asked.

"No, not at all. I must say it to you again, King Arthur, I'm sorry…for everything. What has Merlin done with the Geass scroll?"

"I have it," Arthur held it up, he saw it was unsigned. She rolled it up, and burned it using the candle.

"I have thought about everything you have said, and I realize that Merlin was right in sparing you. And hatred is unbefitting of a perfect king."

"If people reach perfection they vanish, you know," Shirou smiled.

Arthur chuckled to herself, "Who said that?"

"You," he replied. "Well, depending on the story, I suppose."

"I do not recall saying that, but it's true, I am a king, and the king is not a person. I suppose because I seek perfection, that I have vanished as a person."

"But you still have emotions, I know, because I draw them out of you," Shirou chuckled to himself. He refilled her bowl of soup.

"Indeed," she agreed.

"How can I earn your forgiveness?" Shirou asked.

"Earn your forgiveness by some brave deed or long penance, and I will forgive you."

Shirou got down on one knee and knelt before her. "I offer you my service, King Arthur."

Arthur gently pulled him to his feet, "And gladly, I accept it. You shall be, Shirou Emiya, Iron-Wrought Mage of Camelot."

"Then I swear my loyalty to Arthur, King of the Britons. Henceforth my sword will be at your side. Your fate is now my fate is now my fate."

He extended his hand.

"What's wrong? You don't want to shake hands?" he asked.

"It's not that. I was simply not expecting it. I was startled."

It was like her dream.

They sat at the table, Shirou poured some wine and offered it to her, it was the other bottle of Chateau Latour "Les Fortes de Latour" Bertan. When he turned 21, he would sometimes buy wine from the Copenhagen.

"That wine is good!" Arthur exclaimed, enjoying the taste.

"King Arthur, are you happy with your life?" Shirou glanced at her.

Arthur was surprised at the question. "Am I happy? My realm is at peace, we have driven out the Saxons. Britain is safe, and Camelot is a bright light that chases away the darkness, so I will say yes, I am happy."

Shirou gazed at her.

"The dark is generous and it is patient—and it always wins. It always wins because it is everywhere. It is in the wood that burns in your hearth and in the kettle on the fire. It is under your chair and under your table, and under the sheets on your bed. Walk in the midday sun, and it is with you, attached to the soles of your feet. The brightest light casts the darkest shadow."

"Are these prophetic words to me, Mage Shirou?" Arthur asked.

"No, just an observation I now well enough. These words are from a book I read; it was a fictional tale, about the fall of a Republic and the rise of an Empire. The main character was the finest knight in that story."

"Ah, what became of him?" Arthur asked.

"He became what he swore to destroy, and it destroyed him as well."

"Why did he fall?"

"He fell, because of love, he loved his wife so much, he thought that gaining power could save her from dying in childbirth in his dreams, and he ended up being the one who brought about her death."

Death in childbirth was far too common; she'd seen it too often.

"I see. Why would you tell me this?"

"Because the character of Anakin Skywalker is based off many sources, but he takes his characteristics from both King Arthur and Sir Lancelot."

Shirou laughed, "Perhaps I should not speak of tragic stories. Do you like the food?"

"Yes, it is very good; you are an excellent cook, Shirou."

"Might I be let into the kitchen?" he asked gently, not wanting to push his luck.

"You must take it up with Sir Kay, he is the steward. If you cook for him, I'm sure you can persuade him."

"Really?"

"It's an unspoken here in Camelot that no one really likes the food," Arthur sighed.

"I see, then I will speak to him in the morning, please, enjoy the food."

Shirou gave her some bread, "They say that those who share bread and salt and fellowship under the same roof become eternal friends."

"Then let it be so!" Arthur smiled.

Shirou glimpsed the Arturia Pendragon he loved, and hoped that he could earn her forgiveness. Perhaps everything was going to be better for him after all. They ate and drank and talked of many things. And he felt for the first time, that he wasn't trapped in purgatory or Hell. Just being with Saber had soothed his troubled heart.

He would earn her forgiveness, her loyalty, and her love, he'd redeem himself and everything would be as it should be.


	9. The Arrival of Culhwch

**The Arrival of Culhwch**

 ** _Author's_** **Note _:_**

 _Well, Type Moonies, I have good news, Melty Blood: Actress Again Current Code is on Steam!_

 ** _cameronsweet5:_** _Congratulations on the ban button, I have about given up trying to explain Values Dissonance to people, regarding the Middle Ages and sex, especially when these people,_ do not do research on the subject _, and no, it's not out of place, it's my storytelling decision!_

 _I planned the last chapter, and people had a cow. Is sex For Solace a trope that Shirou is somehow magically immune to? Can't Shirou have flaws, isn't he allowed to make mistakes and screw up?_

 _This is an AU story, it's_ not canon, _it's in the summary that will differ from Nasuverse canon._

 _I won't rewrite the story, why? Because this story I'm telling is the one I want to tell, if you want the perfect Nasuverse, that's what the visual novel is for._

 ** _End of Rant._**

 _This is the second time me using period accurate views of sex has caused people to yell at me, it happened in my Teen Titans Medieval fanfic Ties That Bind, but I understand why people don't like what I've done here with having Shirou screw up, because he doesn't normally screw up his relationships he gets in, but this is hardly a normal "Shirou Time Travels Back to Medieval Britain" story._

 _I actually bought the story Olwen and Culhwch to use as the first real story arc. it's $0.99 on Amazon Kindle. I've altered the dialogue so it's easier to read. it might be hard for some people to read, because it's in old English._

 _There is a literal wall of text that takes up like 15% of the actual story in Olwen and Culhwch, that I have omitted, because nobody wants to read an eternally long list of all the people needed for one quest!_

 _For the 121 people who favorited this story, thank you for bearing with me._

* * *

Shirou Emiya paced the floor of his room. He needed to demonstrate to Arthur, to the Round Table, to the people of Britain his repentance; he needed to show them he was truly sorry for what he'd done.

It would take too long to perform great deeds for the king, as Quests were becoming rarer in the peaceful days, but there was always penance, but what sort of penance could he perform? He had little money to give to the poor, he couldn't leave Camelot without permission, and he was unsure of how he could atone for all the pain he had caused the woman he loved.

Then he remembered the story of King Henry II of the Plantagenet dynasty and Thomas Beckett. The king had accidentally caused the death of a man who was once his best friend after his knights overheard his angry outburst regarding Beckett, who had defied the king after they had become enemies. They had gone out and murdered the archbishop inside the Canterbury Cathedral.

Years later, King Henry II performed a very public penance for his mistake, and Shirou decided it was the sincerest apology worthy of Saber.

Shirou found the Master of the Wardrobe and purchased with the small amount of money he possessed, a shirt and trousers the peasants wore.

He asked for permission to speak to the king, she was surprised to see him.

"I will ask your permission to go to the Abbey in the city of Camelot," he said formally. She had not released him to leave the castle grounds.

"I give you permission, Shirou, please come and go at your own discretion, but I will be watching you."

"Of course, King Arthur," Shirou bowed and left. He quietly left and changed his clothes. Shirou began walking toward the city, but not before he took off his shoes. It was a long walk to the abbey, through the city. The rocks and clay shredded the skin off his feet, sometimes the clay shards cut deep into his skin, but he'd been through worse, and compared to everything else, it was bearable.

The people of the city murmured in awe and surprise, they recognized his actions as penance; they began to follow him, wondering what he would do.

He made his way through the streets and word spread fast, people of all classes followed him into the abbey. He stood before the Bishop Sansum.

"Why are you here my son?" the Bishop asked, he noticed the crowd gathered in the abbey.

"I am here to perform my penance for my sins against King Arthur, the Knights of the Round Table, and the people of Britain."

"And your penance will be?" Bishop Sansum asked.

"To be beaten with a birtching rod, by the monks here," Shirou replied. A murmur ran through the crowd, such a punishment was extremely painful, could the terror of Britain be so remorseful?

"There are 100 monks here," the Bishop told him.

"This is the least I can do to atone for the horrible things I've done."

So they began to whip him. Shirou endured it, surely it would be enough. This was the way Saber would see he was sorry; he would be able to feel like his verbal apology had weight.

He screamed in agony as the whips shredded his flesh, but he deserved it, he knew that, because he was weak, because he could not keep his promise to Saber, because he'd let his loneliness and lust override his senses.

The blows were unending, but he forced himself to stay conscious, he'd been through worse, hadn't he?

He owed her this, it was the least he could do for her, he'd spend the rest of his days, apologizing to her, trying take o find some way to make up for his mistake. What he'd done wasn't worth it, he knew he should have just left, but there was no way he could take it back now. He would have to live with himself now. If the self loathing didn't crush his spirit first.

Shirou recalled his argument with Saber after their date, how he had called her a walking contradiction. It was rather ironic, now _he_ was the walking contradiction.

He wondered if he'd ever be able to forgive himself for his mistake. Shirou was always hard on himself, in his own way, whether it was his inability to like himself, or if it was the self loathing he felt right now.

He felt the lash repeatedly tear his skin apart as they counted out the 100th lash, he tried to stay upright, he was in so much pain, but what was this physical pain, compared to the pain he'd caused Saber, even if she didn't know it yet?

And what was the pain compared to the guilt he felt In his heart for forgetting his honor and the oath he'd made Saber, the promise he that he made to himself would be loyal to her in every way.

In the stories, King Arthur said of love, "Love is a gift divine, and must be treated from all reverence: he is no true knight who do aught to bring a stain upon it."

Shirou wondered if that was something she'd actually said or if it was just something added to the legends, the Saber he'd seen in his dreams had suppressed her emotions throughout her entire rule, and it had caused her downfall.

Shirou hoped to speak to Lancelot in private, if anyone knew about making a mistake and breaking oaths, and the shame that came with it, it was the Knight of the Lake. He wondered how Lancelot had been able to overcome the guilt of being deceived by Elaine.

He could do as Sir Lancelot did and leave Camelot, but then again, wandering the British countryside like a raving nutbar wouldn't really do him much good either, and Morgan Le Fay was still out there, so leaving was not a good idea.

Talk about being between a rock and a hard place, he had to stay, but he knew he wasn't worthy to.

The sexual mores of the medieval time period were a strange thing, it viewed his night with that woman as merely a sexual outlet, Arthur's code of chivalry and 21st century mores said he had tainted his love by cheating, giving his body but not his heart to someone else. The contradiction was evident, and he'd adhered to the mores of the medieval time period, because it was how he justified his actions that night in his own head.

Shirou was wondering if this would be enough. He had to try though, for her sake.

Shirou decided the only thing he could do was keep his relationship with Arturia at merely a platonic level, if she wanted more from then he would let her initiate it.

Perhaps screwing up his relationship with Saber was punishment for hating that he had been summoned to the medieval era.

He had been living his life normally, doing good and helping people, he had just returned from an overseas trip and had gone to the shed out of nostalgia, only to be yanked into the summoning circle by magic. It was a very odd thing to be pulled through the floor and wake up inside a medieval castle.

He'd never voiced his resentment, of being separated from everything familiar to him, having to rely on head knowledge to get by in an era that was so different than his own. He'd done reenactments at renaissance fairs, but that was different, you could always go back to your modern conveniences after it was over.

He knew modern technology would not be mistaken for magic. They could recognize machines when they saw them, even if they didn't know what it did.

He found out his love for Saber could not sustain him, it couldn't keep him from resenting his unhappy circumstances. His deep desire to go back to his own time period had crept in to how he behaved. Especially since he knew he didn't belong to that era.

All his head knowledge had inadvertently caused him to act differently than how he would normally. It was one thing to live out such things but he knew better.

His head knowledge had bit him in the ass. It took Merlin confronting him about it to make him realize he'd really screwed this up.

But he had other more important things to think about, between his moans and groans of agony.

They had passed the 200th lash and Shirou wondered just how bad his back looked. He'd probably pass out soon. He wondered who would carry him home, or if he'd be able to walk back, he'd probably lose consciousness before that.

By the time they'd hit the 300th lash, Shirou was swaying, about ready to pass out, when the 351st lash came down he let out a groan and finally hit the floor, passing out in a bloody heap.

Bishop Sansum absolved him, "God the Father of mercies, through the death and resurrection of his Son reconciled the world to himself and sent the Holy Spirit among us for the forgiveness of sins; through the ministry of the Church may God give you pardon and peace, and I absolve you from your sins in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit."

The people left, whispering of the astonishing penance the Archer of Red had given.

King Arthur approached the Bishop, to inquire about Shirou.

"The Iron-Wrought Mage has been here all day?" Arthur glanced down at Shirou's inert body.

Since this morning," Bishop Samsun told her. It was mid afternoon.

"How many lashes?" Arthur asked.

"351," he replied.

"Did he say why?"

"No, he never told us to stop."

"Lancelot, have the servants take him back to Camelot," King Arthur ordered her knight.

The king's servants picked Shirou up and carried him to a cart. Sir Lancelot rode with them on his horse.

Arriving at the castle, they had the servants took him to Merlin at the king's orders

Merlin healed Shirou and had the servants put him in his own room.

 _"Gee, Shirou, you really_ are _an idiot!" a voice told him._

 _"T-Tohsaka?"_ Shirou was surprised to see her in his dream.

 _"I can't believe you screwed up with Saber, right when she was starting to come around to you! Were you really so depressed?!"_

 _"Yes, and I'll regret it for the rest of my life."_

 _"I can't believe you did something so boneheaded!" Rin shouted at him. She slapped him upside the back of his head. "UGH! I can't believe it! Don't ever do something this stupid again! If you do I'll kill you in your dreams, and you'll die in real life!"_

 _"But you're too pretty to be Freddy Kruger!" Shirou protested._

 _"Oh, shut up!" Rin scowled._

 _"Rin, I miss you a lot you know," Shirou sighed. "Have you been trying to find me?"_

 _"Of course I have, you idiot, but this time travel stuff is too complicated, and I don't' even know if I could find you, let alone bring you back!"_

 _"Please try for me Tohsaka, I really do want come home."_

 _"But what about Saber?" Rin asked._

 _"I screwed up real bad, and for now, I think I only deserve friendship from her."_

 _"If you're gonna be stuck there for awhile, at least you should try to be happy with her."_

 _I'll try Rin," Shirou sighed. "I'll try."_

 _I'll try to find you, but I can't guarantee anything."_

 _"Thanks Tohsaka. I miss you."_

 _"I miss you too," his mentor sighed. "You're such an idiot!"_

 _"I know, Rin, I know."_

Shirou slowly opened his eyes.

"Where am I?" he asked.

"Back at Camelot, and I accept your penance, and forgive you. Tell me, Shirou, why did you request such a severe punishment?" Arthur asked curiously.

"Because I betrayed the woman I love, you remember that night, Llacheu's birthday."

"I think _everyone_ remembers Llacheu's birthday," Arthur laughed. Shirou was surprised. He hadn't heard her laugh before, it was strange, but it made him happy.

"Does the woman you love know that you betrayed her?" Arthur was curious.

"No, she doesn't, she does not know that I love her," Shirou sighed. "Not that she would believe me if I told her, after what I've done."

"Understandable, any woman would find such things hard to believe," Arthur smiled. "So your penance was both for me, and her."

"Yes, it was, for both you and her."

Arthur noted he seemed very regretful over what he'd done to this woman. "You seem unlucky in love."

"No, not unlucky, back home I didn't chase skirts, the skirts chased me, I've just…never screwed up this bad before."

"This woman you love, who is she? What is her name?" the king asked.

"That's my secret, your highness," Shirou replied.

He reached into his bag and pulled out a coin, fiddling with it.

"Are you watching closely?" Shirou asked. He seemed to make the coin vanish as he reached behind her ear, and seemed to make it reappear. He slowly rotated the coin, showing her the coin had two heads.

"Never show anyone. They'll beg you and they'll flatter you for the secret, but as soon as you give it up... you'll be nothing to them, you understand? Nothing. The secret impresses no one. The trick you use it for is everything."

"What is a man, but a miserable pile of secrets?" Arthur laughed.

"What would you know about secrets?" Shirou queried.

"More than I would care to admit," she smiled at him. "Have you told this woman you love her?"

"Not yet, she wouldn't believe me even if I did, it's not the right time yet."

Arthur glanced at him. "You should get up. I can't have you lying around doing nothing. Who will cook me delicious food?"

Shirou laughed, "Is that the only thing I'm good at?"

"You are good at many things I suppose, but it has been far too long since I've had a good meal."

"Then I'll make you something later, since I still have not spoken to Sir Kay."

"I look forward to it."

The king stood to her feet and left.

Shirou went searching for Sir Lancelot, he found Lancelot standing alone on the roof.

"Can I ask you a question?" Shirou asked.

"You may," Lancelot replied.

"I have betrayed the woman I love, she is precious to me, but in my misery I forgot the oath I made to myself, that I would be faithful to her, and I gave my body to someone else for solace, and I didn't realize how stupid I was. What should I do?"

"Do you love her, this woman you spoke of, do you still love her?" Lancelot looked at him curiously. He noted the young mage would not say this woman's name, as if he couldn't or wouldn't. He was suspicious.

"Shirou, you love her with a greater, fiercer passion. You make another oath to yourself that you will never betray her again. You do that, and your guilt will ease. I know that sort of guilt all too well."

"Thank you, Lancelot, I really needed to hear that, I thought that I would never be able to atone to her. I've never been worthy of her, but I thank you, my conscious has finally been eased."

Shirou turned and left. Lancelot was deep in thought as he finally realized just who exactly Shirou spoke of. He was surprised at least, but he wanted to confirm his suspicions, because he'd never given her a name, but perhaps he knew that because forbidden love was often kept a secret, he knew better than to say certain names aloud.

* * *

Arthur got up to check on the guards, to make sure her home was safe. She'd make sure the guards were awake and perhaps get something to drink, or eat if she was lucky.

She wandered into the kitchen, and found Shirou Emiya.

"Shirou, why are you up so late?" Arthur asked, curiously. She saw him on his knees, a bucket of water and a cloth in hand. He was scrubbing the floor.

"Cleaning the floor," he replied. "Can I help you with something, Your Highness?"

"Why would a mage a do menial labor? Most mages are descended from noble or educated families."

"Housework is something I enjoy," Shirou smiled. "Is there something else I can help you with?"

"I was just looking for a drink," Arthur replied. Suddenly, her stomach rumbled.

"I know you come looking for me in hopes of a good meal," the mage laughed. "I am always happy to cook food for you."

For some reason, Arthur could not understand, his words filled her with happiness.

Shirou cooked the chicken at an astonishing speed, she wondered how his small oven could cook food that tasted so good, in the meantime, she occupied herself with some wine and something he had brought called "beef jerky", it was salty, but she liked the taste of it.

Suddenly, she heard a bark at her feet. Across the kitchen was Cavall, her hunting dog.

"Cavall, what are you doing in here?" Arthur asked the hunting dog. She usually didn't let him inside.

The dog bounded over to her, jumping up and down excitedly. He licked her face.

"Down boy, stop it!" she shoved him back. "Sit!"

The dog sat expectantly hoping for a reward; apparently he had caught a whiff of Shirou's cooking too.

"I let him in, I got tired of the whining and whimpering, is he supposed to stay outside?" Shirou asked.

"I keep him outside sometimes; his whining and whimpering at night keeps everyone awake," Arthur explained.

"Oh, I'll take him back outside," Shirou began to move towards the hunting dog.

"Let him stay," Arthur told him, "He would never stop whining if you put him out now."

Arthur took a few bites of the chicken with relish, it tasted so good, she enjoyed the food, but felt thirsty, she needed something to drink, like wine or ale.

Arthur quickly searched for some wine, and returning to her seat, she prepared to pour some when she noticed something was gone. Her chicken was missing. She knew quite well that she hadn't eaten it, and Shirou was busy cooking something else. So he hadn't eaten it.

She caught sight of her hunting dog, lying on the floor, the chicken between its paws, with a blissful, _smug_ expression on his face, as if he'd caught a deer while hunting. She didn't even know that a dog could _be_ smug.

"Cavall, you bastard! That was _my_ chicken!" Arthur scowled at the hunting dog, which shrunk back and whimpered. He scooted away, still holding the chicken.

"Well he has a good nose for food, right, makes him a good hunting dog!" Shirou laughed. "It's no trouble, I'll make you some more chicken."

"Hello, Arthur, what is that delightful smell at this hour?" Kay asked, he had smelled the cooking and had arrived to investigate.

"Kay, you must eat this food, and afterwards, you must make Shirou Emiya the Master Cook."

Key ate some of the chicken and his face lit up with delight. "Yes, yes! The Master Cook has retired, and now at least men will say that Camelot has the finest food, as well as the finest knights! Please show the others how to prepare meals such as this!"

The next day, Shirou was ushered to the kitchen and the other cooks were astonished to see him. After they were told that he was head cook, Shirou began giving advice to the cooks on spices for the foods, how to prepare them correctly, and most importantly, for them to taste their own food. As everyone seemed to have forgotten what good food tastes like.

He spent the entire day in the kitchen and came out to inform them that the feast was ready.

Arthur asked for the minstrel again and everyone turned to him.

"Why is everyone looking to me?" Shirou queried.

"You're the only one who has new songs we've never heard," Kay replied.

Well a bawdy song was not appropriate, so he decided to go with something else.

He got up on a table and began to stomp his feet. Everyone raised an eyebrow at him.

 _There's an inn, there's an inn, there's a merry old inn  
beneath an old grey hill,  
And there they brew a beer so brown  
That the Man in the Moon himself came down  
one night to drink his fill._

 _The ostler has a tipsy cat_  
 _that plays a five-stringed fiddle;_  
 _And up and down he saws his bow_  
 _Now squeaking high, now purring low,_  
 _now sawing in the middle._

 _So the cat on the fiddle played hey-diddle-diddle,_  
 _a jig that would wake the dead:_  
 _He squeaked and sawed and quickened the tune,_  
 _While the landlord shook the Man in the Moon:_  
 _'It's after three!' he said._

The crowd laughed, clapped and stomped their feet. After the song was over they all sat down to eat.

Outside a handsome young man had arrived at the gates of Camelot. He carried with him two spears and a gold sword. He had a war horn made of ivory. His name was Culhwch. He was very handsome and had dark black hair. With him were two greyhounds with white chests, they wore ruby studded collars.

He was dressed in purple and fine clothes. His shoes were tipped with gold. He made quite a fine impression on anyone who saw him.

He looked at the porter. Glewlwyd Gavaelvawr was his name, he was a good man, and he was known for being very long winded when he talked to others, he even annoyed Shirou, and that was hard to do.

"Is there a porter?" Culhwch asked.

"There is," the porter replied. "If you do not hold your peace, small will be your welcome. I am Arthur's porter, every first of January, and during every other part of the year, but the office is filled by," and the porter began to name various people who were porters during other times of the year, "and Pennpingyon, who goes upon his head to save his feet, neither towards the sky nor towards the earth, but like a rolling stone upon the floor of the court."

"Open the portal, Culhwch commanded.

"I will not," the porter Glewlwyd Gavaelvawr, replied. "The knife's in the meat, and the drink's in the cup, and there's revelry in Arthur's hall, and none may enter there but the son of a king of a privileged country, or a craftsman bringing his craft. But there will be refreshment for your dogs, and for your horses; and for you there will be collops cooked and peppered, and luscious wine and mirthful songs, and food for fifty men shall be brought to you in the guest chamber, where the stranger and the sons of other countries eat, who come not to the precincts of the Castle of Arthur. You will fare no worse there than you would with Arthur in the Court. A lady shall smooth your couch, and shall lull you with songs; and early tomorrow morning, when the gate is open for the multitude that came here today, for you shall it be opened first, and you may sit in the place that you shall choose in Arthur's Hall, from the upper end to the lower."

Culhwch said to him, "That, I will not do. If you open the gate, it is well. If you don't open it, I will bring disgrace upon your Lord, and evil report upon you. And I will set up three shouts at this very gate, than which none were ever more deadly, from the top of Pengwaed in Cornwall to the bottom of Dinsol, in the North, and to Esgair Oervel, in Ireland. And all the women in this Castle that are pregnant shall lose their offspring; and such as are not pregnant, their hearts shall be turned by illness, so that they shall never bear children from this day forward."

The porter was taken aback by the threat of a curse upon Camelot.

"What clamor you may make," said Glewlwyd Gavaelvawr, "against the laws of Arthur's Castle you shall not enter there, until I first go and speak with Arthur."

Glewlwyd entered the hall and bowed before the king.

"Have you news from the gate?" Arthur asked.

 _Please say no, otherwise I will have to endure—_

Her porter began a long speech about how many handsome people he'd met in his life. Apparently, there was someone at the door, and he was fair to look upon.

Arthur's patience was tested. She could be patient with her porter, but Glewlwyd was notoriously long winded, that's why she always hoped the answer to if anyone was at the portal would be, "no", because he'd start off into a long-winded speech vaguely related to their visitor, like he was doing now. He was rambling on and on about the good looking people he'd seen in his youth.

He got the point, after what seemed like an eternity. "…And I have been in Caer Oeth and Annoeth, and in Caer Nevenhyr; nine supreme sovereigns, handsome men, saw we there, but never did I behold a man of equal dignity with him who is now at the door of the portal."

Then said Arthur, "If you entered walking, you should return running. And every one that beholds the light, and every one show him respect, and serve him, some with gold-mounted drinking-cup, others with collops cooked and peppered, until food and drink can be prepared for him. It is unbecoming to keep such a man as you he is, in the wind and the rain."

Her brother looked at her.

Kay said, "By the hand of my friend, if you would follow my counsel, you would not break through the laws of the Court because of him."

"Not so, Kay," Arthur replied. "It is an honor to us to be resorted to, and the greater our courtesy the greater will be our renown, and our fame, and our glory."

Glewlwyd opened the porter for the young man outside. But instead of dismounting, he rode right into the hall and approached the king.

"Greeting be to you, Sovereign Ruler of this Island; and be this greeting no less to the lowest than to the highest, and be it equally to your guests, and your warriors, and your barons-let all partake of it as completely as yourself. And complete be your favor, and your fame, and your glory, throughout all this Island."

"Greeting to you also," Arthur greeted him formally. "You sit between two of my knights, and you will have minstrels before you, and you shall enjoy the privileges of a king born to a throne, as long as you remain here. And when I dispense my presents to the visitors and strangers in this Court, they shall be in your hand at my commencing."

Culhwch said to Arthur, "I did not come here to consume meat and drink, but to obtain a boon that I seek. I will requite it of you and extol you, if I don't have it, I will criticize you to the ends of the earth, as far as your renown has extended."

Arthur was thoughtful.

"Since you will not remain here, sir, you shall receive the boon whatever your tongue may name, as far as the wind dries, and the rain moistens, and the sun revolves, and the sea encircles, and the earth extends; save only my ship; and my mantle; and Excalibur, my sword; and Rhongomyniad, my lance; and Wynebgwrthucher, my shield; and Carnwennan, my dagger; and Guinevere, my wife. By the truth of Heaven, you shall have it cheerfully, name what you will."

"I would that you bless my hair," Culhwch replied, dismounting. In simple words, he wanted Arthur to cut his hair.

"That shall be granted you."

So Arthur took a gold comb and scissors made of silver and cut his hair.

Shirou was impressed that she actually made him look good and did not literally butcher his hair.

Shirou smiled, he knew they were cousins after all, but he wondered if Culhwch looked more like Igraine rather than Uther Pendragon.

"For my heart warms to you and I know that you are a blood relation. Tell me, therefore, who you are," the king asked him.

"I will tell you," replied the nobleman, "I am Culhwch, the son of Cilydd, the son of Prince Kelyddon, by Goleuddydd, my mother, the daughter of Prince Anlawdd."

"That is true," said Arthur; you are my cousin. Whatever boon you may ask, you shall receive, be it what it may that your tongue shall name."

"Pledge the truth of Heaven and the faith of your kingdom," Culhwch told his cousin.

"I pledge it to you gladly!" Arthur replied.

"I crave of you then, that you obtain for me Olwen, the daughter of Ysbaddaden Penkawr; and this boon I likewise seek at the hands of your warriors. I seek it from Kay…"

 _Oh joy, the incoming wall of text._ Shirou had read the story of _Olwen and Culhwch_ and yes, there was a giant wall of text of all the warriors and various people that Culhwch needed on his quest, but he felt he'd turn as old as Methuselah before the king's cousin completed his eternally long list of people he needed to fulfill his boon.

Shirou had a headache after the tenth person, the story he'd read, that list of people literally went on for pages and pages. He felt like the prince was droning on for an eternity.

 _Oh dear Lord, I'll be here_ forever! Shirou groaned inwardly.

He was very impressed Saber would remember all this, because he definitely knew _he_ wouldn't!

Once Culhwch finished his eternally long list of people he needed, Arthur told him.

"Oh! Sir, I have never heard of the maiden of whom you speak of, nor of her kindred, but I will gladly send messengers in search of her. Give me time to seek her."

Culhwch looked to his cousin, "I will willingly grant from this night to that at the end of the year to do so."

And so they feasted the rest of the evening. Shirou was happy for Saber, he'd never given too much thought to Arturia's family outside of her immediate family, the members often spoken of in the stories, but she seemed to be very happy to see her cousin. Little did she know that her cousin's quest for a wife would bring her great grief.


	10. The Most Powerful Position

**The Most Powerful Position**

 ** _Author's Note:_**

 _I have found a real life EMIYA/Archer, his name is Lars Anderson! You know all that rapid fire archery that looked crazy unrealistic, HE CAN DO IT IN REAL LIFE! YouTube "Lars Andersen: A new Level of Archery", he's amazing! He can catch arrows shot at him and fire them back, he also split an incoming arrow shot at him! He can shoot at a blade and the arrow will be split in half!_

 _I have family coming over for a week, so updates might be speratic if they happen at all until May 6th, so this might have to tide you over for the time being._

 _Despite all the whining I'm getting about this story, I wrote this for_ me _, not anyone else but me, and it just got popular for reasons I still don't understand._

 _I'll continue to write this story and if you want "originality", you might want to leave, because this quest their going on is based on Culhwch and Olwen, and it's an obscure King Arthur story._

 _I get frustrated with my reader base, because I do a lot of research (that I don't have to do) and put a lot of historical facts in this story that has apparently flown over a lot of people's heads. I really don't want to treat readers like Viewers Are Morons (you can TV tropes it for reference) but man, the moment I start putting historical facts into this story, people throw fits. Get over it; this is still what I want to write._ _I am now going to discuss in story, something_ nobody _thinks about, but needed to be addressed without the easy solution of "Merlin can use magic to make it go away". Please don't squick out, I've handled it tastefully, I hope. I guess this came from me being a woman._ _And now I discovered why Saber can eat so much food, of course I knew she could eat because she ate at feasts, but I discovered how_ long _they were, SEVEN HOURS of eating! Avalon keeps her skinny as a twig! The food for the banquet makes me hungry!_

* * *

The servant knelt before the king. "We have been searching for Olwen, the daughter of Ysbaddaden Penkawr, but we may never found a woman matching his description of her."

"I see," Arthur replied. "Send out more messengers, we must keep trying to find Olwen."

"Of course your highness," the servant replied, standing up, he left to fulfill the king's orders.

"My Lord, we ask you to attend the trial of Aglat, the minter. He was caught defacing the king's mint."

Defacing the king's mint was making the currency smaller than it should be, and they had also found coins in his house.

King Arthur had been generous, she paid many craftsmen for their work, it was unheard of as most craftsmen were not paid for their work, their food and board was their pay.

Still, her subjects were ungrateful. It troubled her that no matter how hard she tried to make their lives better, they still resented her. She had tried to be a just, fair king, but she'd made difficult decisions, including when she sacrificed a village to win a battle against her enemies, perhaps they never forgiven her for that.

Still, she had her duty; she went to the court to preside over the trial.

She listened carefully to all the witnesses and they turned to her.

"I declare that Aglat is guilty of defacing the king's mint. His punishment shall be what is written in the law. Cut off his hand and nail it to the door of the mint as a deterrent."

The guards dragged Aglat out to enforce his punishment.

Arthur got up and made her way outside, needing to stretch her legs after hours of sitting down. She wandered around outside.

She found Shirou Emiya in the practice range. He was using the bow that he had made after completing the Fletcher and was testing it out.

Arthur saw the young mage casually tossing his bow into the air, he caught it and quickly grabbed arrows from a quiver, strapped to his side, he fired three of them in rapid succession.

He grabbed three more arrows and held them in his draw hand; he began moving around the field, firing them so fast she could barely see them leave his draw hand.

Shirou hit the center ring of the target.

Shirou called to one of the archers, "Fire an arrow at me!"

"Have you gone mad, Wrought-Iron mage?" the archer asked.

"No, I have not gone mad, just fire at me," Shirou instructed. The mage turned around, away from the archer.

The archer fired at him. Shirou turned around and caught the arrow in his hand; he effortlessly shot the arrow into the target. He hit the bull's-eye dead center.

Arthur clapped her hands, Shirou turned to her, bowing formally.

"I didn't know I had an audience," the mage said to the king.

"'I've heard stories of skilled archers who can catch the enemy's arrows and fire them back, but I thought it was a myth," Arthur told him.

"In my era there are many myths, you are one of them," Shirou smiled at her.

"Me, a myth?" the king laughed. "You flatter me, Wrought-Iron Mage."

"Yes, a thousand years from now, they still tell stories of King Arthur."

"I have never seen myself as someone worthy of a legend. I'm only doing my duty to my people."

Shirou decided to change the subject.

"Are you going to watch the tournament tomorrow?"

"I will participate," Arthur told him proudly.

"Then I look forward to it even more," Shirou gathered his bow and arrow up, and left.

Shirou Emiya was up late at night again, vigorously searching through Merlin's books for anything regarding time travel and how to return to his era when he heard footsteps coming down the hall. He was reading using his emergency electric lap, powered by a hand crank. He should be resting, preparing for the archery tournament, but he wasn't tired.

Shirou glanced out the glass window, the moon was bright and he knew he should go to sleep, but he wasn't ready.

He saw Arthur carrying something, and unfortunately, he could smell it too.

Then he realized just what she was doing. And it had never occurred to him before.

Arturia didn't have a Groom of the Stool. Someone to help her relieve herself, and clean her up afterwards, or empty the stool for her after it was over. This wasn't the 21st century where you could just pull a lever and it all goes down into the sewers, he'd been trying to construct a functional lavatory, but it wasn't going well, because there was no way he could build a functional drainpipe in a castle. It just wasn't going to happen, he'd rigged up a shower, but he still had to take the water in and out by hand.

The Groom of the Stool was the most coveted position in the royal household because it meant you would learn the king's private secrets. And with her gender being such a secret, she didn't trust anyone enough to appoint someone to the position.

Shirou picked up his lamp and walked over. He put a hand on her shoulder, "Your highness, let me take that."

"I can handle it, Shirou; I've taken care of my private needs all my life."

He reached for the bucket and handed her the lamp.

"Arturia, you're the king of Britain, not a gong farmer; you shouldn't have to carry out your own shit!"

With that, he gently removed the bucket from her hand and carried it away. Shirou grabbed another clean bucket on his way outside.

Arthur noted for the first time that Shirou called her by her real name.

The fact that he knew her real name made her wonder just how intimate they had been when she had been summoned to his era; it seemed to be more than Master and Servant.

She gazed at the lamp Shirou had given her. It was a marvel to say the least, she could not see flames, and was puzzled by how it did not need a candle to function.

He "This lamp of yours is strange, where's the candle?" Arthur asked.

"It's that little round glass inside there, called a bulb, once it burns out, this will no longer work."

"You come from a world of strange marvels, Shirou," the king shook her head.

"Each era has its own marvels," the mage smiled as they walked together.

She followed him "Does it bother you, Shirou?"

"Well, this _isn't_ your job, someone else is supposed to do it for you," Shirou reminded her.

"Well, I don't trust anyone to be that physically intimate with me."

"It make sense, you are a woman after all, time of the month and all that," Shirou set down the bucket and rubbed the back of his head.

"I handle that myself, and how do _you_ know about it?" Arthur was surprised.

"I am very well educated, but can't Merlin use his magic to make that, you know, go away?"

"I refuse to have him tamper with my body any more, I send out Gawain during the end of the month and I stay home, simple as that."

"I see," Shirou dumped the contents of the bucket into the moat. Shirou went down to the well and drew water to wash his hands. He headed back inside.

"I have no Groom of the Stool, because there people who would use my private life and my gender against me, I do not want someone to expose my gender to be given intimate, physical access to me. I don't trust the noblemen here to keep that a secret."

Yes, wiping the king's butt after the "call of nature" was one of the worst jobs in history, thank you Tony Robinson for showing him that, but the gong farmer took the cake in sucky job department, still, it was the most powerful position in the royal household, but yeah, bathroom duty sucked.

It was a humiliating job, even though they didn't treat it that way, the Groom of the Stool could become very wealthy and powerful, and know all the king's secrets, but still, not a pleasant job at all.

"I'm not worthy of such a prestigious position," Shirou told her. He could not accept the position, people would talk. Despite his public penance, members of Arthur's court refused to trust him, it was understandable, but they spread rumors that he used his magecraft to enchant the food, to bend the mind of the king to favor him more.

Besides that, even if he took the position, it would mean that the kitchen would need a new Master Cook, he was going to have to take an Apprentice, someone to succeed his position, he did not want to go back to Food Hell.

"As king I appoint positions to whom I will," Arthur told him. "I would appoint you because I know that you know about me, and yet you have not spoken a word of it to anyone."

"The king's gender does not matter, you are the King of Britain, and Caliburn chose you, but at the moment I can't accept your offer to be your Groom of the Stool."

"Then why do you hesitate?" Arthur asked curiously.

"I cannot accept it, not until I take an Apprentice to replace me as Master Cook," Shirou explained.

"I see, at least now the courtiers will stop trying to make me appoint someone to the position."

"The courtiers will gossip, they already say I use magecraft on the food I cook for you," Shirou smiled.

"Is it so hard for them to believe I enjoy good food?" she asked him. "I am curious; who would you choose as your Apprentice?"

"Alf," Shirou replied. "He's an excellent Cook, in reality, he needs no training from me, but I merely need to appoint him as my successor. How long has Alf been here?"

"He has been here a long time, but I have known him since I was a child."

"Did you meet him when you were being tutored by Merlin?" Shirou queried.

"Yes, he came to Merlin's house and spoke to me, he is very good, very kind, but I know little about him."

"I see, but it will be good for me to take an Apprentice, I have heard Camelot has a festival in the wintertime, and a Feast of Good Children. I've never baked a Great Cake before."

"If it is as good as your cooking, I am sure the children will love it," Arthur smiled.

"Thank you, Shirou, and you should go rest; you're part of the archery tournament. We travel to Finsbury Field tomorrow."

"As you wish, your highness," Shirou bowed and left her alone.

They both lay down and slept; it would be a busy day tomorrow.

Saber stood in the beautiful golden fields of Avalon, still waiting for Shirou Emiya. It was the impossible miracle, awaiting his arrival for eternity while he chased her for eternity. She would always wait for him.

Suddenly, a figure appeared before her. She bowed deeply. Saber had not expected to see him.

"Who am I that the King of Fairy should visit me here?" Saber asked quietly.

"To offer you a boon, you wish to see him again," the King of Fairy told her.

"But why?"

"You have been a friend to Fairy all your life, should I not reward you?" he asked.

"But, such a reunion would be impossible!" Saber exclaimed.

"Not for me, I shall give him a way to pass into Avalon, and you will see him for a time, but he will have to give it up, eventually," he told her.

"I understand, but I will see him soon?" Saber was shaking with joy, expectation, and excitement. This wasn't like her past self, who admired him, but she loved him so much. Arthur's feelings had not grown into love, she knew that Arthur was conflicted by her emotions regarding Shirou, but she knew she would love him, she just wished it was sooner rather than later.

She awaited his arrival, keeping her gaze out at the golden fields as far as the eye could see. She would see Shirou again, and it filled her with unspeakable joy to see him in more than just his dreams.

The king and her courtiers prepared for the journey to Finsbury Field, in London, where they were to hold the tournament was to be held.

Arriving at Finsbury Field, they stayed in a nearby castle and prepared for the tournament.

Shirou looked up as Arthur approached him.

"Shirou will you join us?" Arthur asked.

"As a guest?"

"Yes, yes, my friend, join us, I insist!" she seized his hand.

"As you wish, I'll join you," Shirou followed her inside the banquet hall. They stopped at the hall entrance so he could wash his hands. The king bid a servant to usher him to a seat, he noted that Guinevere was already seated.

After bidding the priest to pray, they began to eat.

Shirou braced himself; this feast was going to push his stomach beyond its limit. People in the 21st century didn't eat a six course meal, every night for a week. Not that he would feast this way for the entire week, but he was so gaining weight after it was over.

The first course was a civet of hare, quarter of stag, a stuffed chicken, and a loin of veal.

He ate a little bit of everything; everyone did stare at him funny.

"Are you not hungry Shirou?" Arthur asked.

"No, no, it's just, where I come from, we don't eat nearly this much food. So I'm pacing myself."

"Ah," Arthur grabbed another piece of chicken. She'd already eaten the equivalent of an entire meal he prepared for her when she was with him in Fuyuki. Looking at her now, he realized she'd eaten him out of house and home ten times over!

The second course was an enormous pair of meat pies, surrounded by other smaller meat pies, it resembled a crown. He'd heard of this recipe for this pie. It contained a whole roe deer, a gosling, three capons, six chickens, ten pigeons, and one rabbit.

Between the courses, minstrels played music and told stories.

Shirou sighed, _If only I were like Milly Thompson and had a second stomach._

There was also a stuffing made from minced loin of veal, two pounds of fat, 26 hard boiled eggs covered with saffron, flavored with cloves.

If he ate the same amounts they all took, Shirou felt his stomach would explode, even with his small portions; he might not make it through the six course meal.

Shirou came to the only logical conclusion his brain could come up with, Saber ate more than Luffy and Goku!

 _Rest in peace, my valiant stomach!_ Shirou mourned, even though this food was totally worth it.

The third course was a roe deer, a pig, a sturgeon cooked in parsley and vinegar and covered with powdered ginger.

The fourth course was four chickens covered with egg yolks and sprinkled with spice, a wild boar, and wafers.

The food was excellent, his compliments to the many chefs.

There was a jelly, part white and part red, representing the crests of the honored guests.

There was a cream covered with fennel seeds and preserved in sugar, a white cream, cheese in slices and strawberries and the plums stewed in rose-water tasted good.

Then the wines and the parties were served, and Shirou managed to eat just a little more, he decided that that settling his stomach with wine was the better idea and drank enough to make him feel good.

After the feast was over, Arthur said, "I shall thank Lord Quentin for this excellent feast, and tomorrow night after the jousting and the tourney, we'll have another feast!"

"Here! Here!" they shouted.

Now Shirou knew being fat was a sign of wealth, and he could easily see how that was possible. But he smiled and said nothing, Arthur had seemed very happy, and he wondered if she experienced fleeting moments of happiness all throughout her life.

The conversations had been interesting, but he had a difficult time explaining things to them, about modern technology, as those were foreign fantastic things to them. Still, everyone had enjoyed themselves.

Shirou headed off to bed, tomorrow was the jousting, and he would enjoy watching Saber show her skills, as he'd never seen her joust before, as she was a Saber class Servant and he had not summoned her as a Rider Class Servant.

He slept well, and eagerly awaited the tournament.

* * *

Shirou took his place in the stands, eagerly waiting for the joust with the rest of the crowd.

Jousting was a dangerous sport. Knights and even a king had died participating in it, and part of his was worried about Arturia because of that. King Henry II of France died when a lance splintered in his eye and he died in agony days later.

The tournament started. The herald began reading the rules of the tournament.

"Five knights will accept all challengers. Second, a knight shall choose his opponent by touching the opponents spear with his lance. Third, touching the shield with the blunt point is a courtesy match; touching it with the sharp point is a fight to the death."

So the jousts started, Shirou noted that Arthur watched at her seat for a long time.

He saw her get up to leave and she was apparently going to get ready to participate in the jousting herself.

The king returned on a horse. The crowd cheered.

Suddenly, a challenger appeared. He rode up to the king, he touched his lance to her shield with the sharp point.

The crowd was astonished, was this knight insane, that he would try to slay their king in a joust?

Shirou suddenly recognized that armor. It was Accolon.

"Very well, I Arthur Pendragon accept your challenge!" Arthur got up on her horse.

They charged each other with their lances, and both riders were unseated.

Scrambling to her feet, Arthur unsheathed her sword. The two knights began attacking each other furiously.

Shirou realized it immediately; Arthur did not have Excalibur in her hand. Accolon had it in his.

Arthur knew this would be a difficult fight; she could not use her sword to its full potential with so many people around. But she was a master of the sword, so she should be able to beat him handily.

At least she thought so, but this knight she did not recognize was a strong fighter.

Arthur leapt at him with a burst of speed. Slashing left to right, and then right to left, she engaged him with a series of quick blows.

Accolon kept slashing at her feet and Arthur kept jumping away.

Suddenly, the knight slammed his blade into the ground, Arthur put all her weight in her foot on the sword, pinning it.

She swung her sword, in order to decapitate him.

Shirou knew that Accolon did not have Berserker's quick reflexes, but he managed to save his neck from being severed, by lurching backward, he did manage to elbow the king in the side of the head, causing her to stagger, her helmet and visor took the impact of the blow, but she felt her ears ringing.

The sword in Accolon's hand found the weak places in her armor. His blow drew blood.

Arthur battled him for a long time, she slashed him across the shoulder blade, but the blade had no bite to it. She was growing angry, was something wrong with the sword?

Shirou knew how the story went, that Morgan Le Fay had stolen Excalibur and replaced it with a fake, but there had been no messenger giving the sword to the king, she must have had the same person who stole Avalon take it away in secret, but how come no one saw that Excalibur was in Accolon's hand? Was it Le Fay's magic?

 _This is not my sword! Who could have taken it?_ Arthur asked in her mind.

She was bleeding and breathing hard, she stepped back to catch her breath. She was bleeding badly and the pain was so intense, Arthur had to block it out of her mind, just to continue fighting.

"Now is not the time for me to suffer you to rest!" Accolon screamed. "Now Sir, I am going to hit you again!"

"You go to your own rest, you bastard!" Arthur whirled her sword up and slammed it so hard into his helmet, he fell over.

The sword broke to pieces leaving only the cross guard and hilt.

"Now you'll die!" Accolon shouted.

"I will not!" For though I lack a weapon I shall not lack honor, and if you slay me weaponless, you shall be shamed!"

"I'll take the risk of that! Run away now, you are a corpse already!"

He rushed at her with Excalibur, she defended with her shield, slashing him with her broken sword hilt, she kicked him away from her and she saw her sword suddenly twist and fall out of his hand.

She caught up her own blade, "Long have you been away from me, and you've done me much damage."

She looked at Accolon. "It is you who stand near death—for it is my own sword that will reward you for the pain I have endured and the blood I have lost!"

Leaping high, she brought her sword slamming down his head; the impact caused blood to burst out of his mouth, nose and ears.

"Slay me, I will never yield, and I will not die dishonored," Accolon told her.

"Who are you?" Arthur asked. She knew his voice from somewhere.

"I am Accolon of the Court of King Arthur; Morgan Le Fay bid me to slay an evil knight at this tournament. She told me I would be king if I conquered in this battle. She is the one who gave me the sword. It is an unlucky sword; it has brought me my death. But who are you that she would want me to kill you?"

"Ah, Accolon," Arthur sighed, "Do you not know that I am the king?" She touched his face gently. She remembered him as a decent, honorable man, and this is what Morgan Le Fay did to him.

Accolon gasped and coughed up blood. "Fair, sweet Lord King Arthur! Have mercy on me! I didn't recognize you."

"Mercy you shall have," Arthur said, realizing this man was in the exact same plight as Shirou. She felt the pang of guilt, remembering how she had treated the young mage. "This battle was not your doing but my sister's. This is not the first time she has sent someone against me through force or deception."

Hs squire helped him out of the lists and Gawain and Lancelot rushed to the king's side. He moved to her quickly.

"Send…the physicians to attend to Accolon," she ordered them. They nodded, even when severely wounded, the king still thought of others.

"I can tend to the king's wounds, I can do that," Shirou reassured them.

They helped the king to a tent first.

Shirou grabbed his bag and pulled out an Advanced Trauma Care First Aid Kit. He removed her armor and helped her remove her shirt, Shirou quickly used alcohol wipes to clean the wounds. "That stings!" Arthur hissing as she sweated through the pain. Shirou began bandaging her wounds. "That'll hold you."

"That's a fairly far-end field dressing for the soldier, of my era," Shirou explained. "It adheres as well as closes the wound with an antibacterial adhesive agent, bacteria causes wounds to become infected…Stops the bleeding cold."

"The marvels of your era never cease to amaze me; I thank you for these things."

He helped the king dress herself.

"Shirou, I must thank you for this, is there a boon I can grant you? Whatever you may ask of me, I will grant it, if it is within my power."

"I…have nothing I want from you, your highness," Shirou told her quietly. She knew he didn't mean it.

"It is unbecoming of a man to lie, tell me, what do you want from me, I will give it to you gladly."

"There is only one thing I would ask of you, Arturia Pendragon," he leaned in closer to her, lightly grabbing her shoulders.

"What is it?" Arthur asked.

"A kiss," Shirou replied gently.

Arthur was astonished. He could ask for anything of her, and that was what he wanted. He was truly a strange man.

"Very well, I shall give you one," Arthur leaned over to him.

"Arturia," he murmured against her lips.

She kissed him.

Arthur expected it to be chaste and gentle.

 _An image flashed in her head. She was walking away from him in a strange house._

 _He reached out and held her from behind, turning her to face him in an embrace._

 _"I'd rather you didn't make this difficult for me," Saber told him. "Being treated like this makes me feel uncomfortable."_

 _"Push me away, then," he told her._

 _"This is unfair of you, Shirou," she said, glancing up at him. "You know my past, and you have been inside my mind many times. You must know full well what my answer will be. You know the grave sins I have committed!"_

 _What she heard next stunned her completely._

 _"I can't help it; I fell in love with you. I can't leave you like this!"_

 _"Though I was unworthy, the country was entrusted to me as her king," Saber said, glancing down at his Command Seal on his hand._

 _"As someone who did not fulfill that duty, I am no permitted such liberty," she said sadly._

 _There were tears in Saber's eyes._

 _He tried to lean in to kiss her. "Don't…" she whispered in half hearted denial. "Shirou, I…"_

 _He kissed her gently as he held her by the shoulders._

This kiss was not chaste, not gentle; it was hungry, passionate, and desperate. He was so eager and enthusiastic about it, as if this made him the happiest man on earth.

He ran his fingers through her hair and stroked her cheek.

She should push him away, strike him across the face, she was married after all, but something wouldn't let her, some part of herself that wanted this, had craved his physical kiss and touch since she'd first laid eyes on him on the battlefield. Was it the Saber from her dreams that loved him so?

His tongue begged entrance to her mouth, and she wondered if someone else played her body like a puppet. She granted him that intimate permission and he deepened his kiss.

Their tongues danced together as he pulled her into an embrace.

He gently let her go. He was not the earnest, desperate Shirou Emiya she'd seen in her dreams; he was once again, the formal polite young mage that stood before her.

"Thank you. I will ask nothing more of you," he helped her to her feet and led her out back to the tournament.

She was deeply troubled and despite enjoying the rest of the day's jousts and the tourney, his words still lingered on in her head, repeating themselves in her head.

 _"I can't help it; I fell in love h you. I can't leave you like this!"_

 _"Though I was unworthy, the country was entrusted to me as her king," Saber said, glancing down at his Command Seal on his hand._

 _"As someone who did not fulfill that duty, I am no permitted such liberty," she said sadly._

Why would she have regrets as king? Why had she not fulfilled her duty and feel satisfaction from her rule? All these things swirled around and disturbed her deeply.

 _"You know my past, and you have been inside my mind many times. You must know full well what my answer will be. You know the grave sins I have committed!"_

He knew everything about her, and yet he kept it all to himself, he could set himself up to be a great lord or baron, using his knowledge to blackmail her for some great status or wealth, he could have given Le Fay all sorts of knowledge about her, but he did not.

How could he love her? Really, she thought it was just something she made up, some secret fantasy every young girl had about a handsome young man that rescued them from some deep distress.

"Shirou Emiya, you vex me deeply," Arthur sighed. Surely what she'd seen couldn't be real. It was just her imagination playing games with her because he kissed her. No one really loved her, not romantically anyway. They loved the _ideal_ of her, and what she represented, but they did not love _her_ as a person.

She couldn't understand someone like him, but she wanted to try.


	11. A Brief Utopia

**A Brief Utopia**

 ** _Author's Note:_**

 _I stopped for over a year months because I got busy, then, writer's block hit, but it's not particularly encouraging when new feedback is always "OOC" business._

 _Okay, my venting is done, good news Fate/Apocrypha anime is announced! Why is this great news? I get to see MORDRED! A-1 pictures please have a good budget!_

 _I bought Fate/Zero volume 1 of the manga, and I found a glaring typo, they said Saber existed 15,000 years ago instead of 1,500 years ago, I'm sure my favorite time period was 1,500 years ago! And it's on all the first edition printings of the manga!_

 _I got my cousin interested in the Fate franchise! I watched the first episode of Fate/Zero with her, and explained some of the exposition when she had questions, and she was really interested and wanted to watch more episodes. I told her she'd like it because she liked Harry Potter, she thought Saber was interesting and that her summoning was awesome because I didn't tell her the gender flip! WHOO!_

 _We made it through episode 16 and she likes Saber and Irisviel and Kiritsugu! And she was mad that Lancer died!_

 _I was really tempted to show her Unlimited Blade Works first, but having three 40 minute episodes is a bit much when you've only got a week to binge watch with them, we could get through three-four episodes a night or so, so I decided to show her how I got into it, with Fate/Zero! It's such an exposition slog for episode 1 though, ugh!_

 _For people accusing me of making stuff up about the magic, I DO look up stuff about the Nasuverse, I look up quite a bit, but the problem with the Nasuverse is that most if it is unlicensed in the States, and you're relying on secondhand info from other people, and yes, I did look of Garden of Avalon. Keep in mind people, this is still an AU._

 _Shirou can trace fictional weapons because many of the popular ones have been defictionalized, you can buy physical swords of many popular movie props, UGH! If he made a physical copy, he can trace it!_

 _For angrycritique who mentioned Dumbledore, I've never even read Harry Potter! This is not a cheap copy of Fate: Servant and Cook, as I recall in that story, everyone loves Shirou, people in my story aren't too trusting of Shirou! My plot is going in a completely different direction than Servant and Cook! You want story spoilers, you can go read exactly where this plot is going, because Culhwch and Olwen is in public domain, and THE HIGH HISTORY OF THE HOLY GRAAL while you're at it! I also don't recall Arthur offering Shirou one of the worst jobs in history as a promotion!_

 _Sorry this took so long, I've been playing through the visual novel, and it's taking up my time to make YouTube videos, so I haven't been compelled to write for this story._

 _I constantly get complaints about Shirou's inconsistency in his character portrayal as written by me, but this is an AU, where Murphy's Law has made Shirou miserable and that seems to fly over people's head still._

 _All the medieval fics with Shirou time traveling fanfics give him instantly loved and respected status with Saber warming to him immediately where's he's lauded as a great heroic person._

 _If bad things happen to him in those stories, it never lasts long, if bad things happen to him_ at all _._

 _I may not write him in character all the time, but it's not on purpose to write him out of character, I'm putting him in situations other fanfic writers of the time travel subgenre never put him in, and he makes bad decisions in this story. That's just how this story is going._

 _Sorry to keep you all waiting, I've been replaying The Last Guardian (I love my big baby Trico!) instead of writing and working on my Code Geass/Fate/Stay Night crossover! I've got Fate fans nitpicking there too, on top of Code Geass Shippers!_

 _This year is going to be so much Fate fun! The year Fate gets animated all over the place!_

 _I also went back and fixed a bunch of typos in this fanfic too before updating the story._

 _I got to 100 reviews and 259 favorites over a year, WOO!_

* * *

The second day of the tournament was a busy one.

One hundred knights took the field on horseback. The crowd eagerly watched as the two teams began to fight.

Horses and knights charged at each other Warriors battled each other on the field and once they were knocked off their steeds, they fought each other on foot.

The dust they kicked up made it difficult to see sometimes, but Shirou found he was enjoying the tourney.

Shirou gazed upon Lancelot Du Lac with awe and wonder, after all, he was one of the most famous knights in legends, many knew the tales of Arthur, Lancelot, and Guinevere.

The mage watched the Knight of the Lake battled the others, wielding his sword with skill, Sir Lancelot had stopped Arthur from using Gurthang to kill him during his battle with the king.

Lancelot was polite to him, Shirou considered him a friend, but he was gone on quests often, but he was always willing to give advice, which Shirou had accepted gratefully.

The other members of the Round Table rarely said anything to him. Few would talk to him save for Dagonet, the court jester, but everyone expected the man to do foolish things, like talk to a man that was as dangerous as the Archer of Red.

Shirou was friendly to him, but the man was constantly busy, entertaining the king and the guests.

Although Arturia was friendly with him it was causing unwanted problems.

Arturia was watching the tournament and he knew better than to associate with her in public, the time wasn't right for such things. Nobles and commoners alike would think he had cast a spell to enchant the king to gain favor. There were already rumors of that sort because she had asked him to feast with her. Despite his public penance, trust wasn't so easily given by people after you've become well known for killing them.

Sir Gareth was the only other knight who seemed interested in speaking to him. But he had only asked questions about Shirou's skills as a cook, although Shrou realzied she was female because she became irritable at the end of the month when the male members of the Round Table didn't.

His life in Camelot was far from ideal, but he would be all right.

Shirou settled into the stands to watch the day's tournament. He glanced at the king, who was deep in thought, despite watching the tourney.

Lancelot's jousting opponent was Sir Maleagant. Shirou knew that Lancelot would kill him eventually. He was always quarrelsome and spread rumors that Shirou's repentance was insincere and that he would kill the King should he be presented with the opportunity. Saber had scolded him, but the rumors persisted.

Today's match would be a mock battle, Shirou kept his eyes on Sir Lancelot as he charged with his men into the fray.

Tourney's were also dangerous as you could be killed in them, but men still fought for glory, renown and the extravagant prize King Arthur offered to the winner.

For the knights in today's contest, a set of fine steel armor such as a prudent man would wear, an elaborately crested helmet and a sword garnished to the value of three crowns.

The knights were eager to obtain the prize, as it was worth a year's wages for the suit of armor alone.

The knights had split into two sides and were attacking the other side with the intensity they showed in a real battle. Shirou watched them fight and knew that the crowd was pleased by the spectacle. It was fascinating and he watched them with interest, they were indeed as powerful and brave their legends made them out to be.

Sir Lancelot rode on horseback, jousting with any knight who engaged him with a lance. He continually broke the wooden lances of his foes, impressing the crowd.

All the other knights had been defeated, and only Maleagant and Lancelot remained.

"The victory will be mine!" Maleagant boasted as he charged Lancelot, unseating him from his horse. The king's champion scrambled to his feet and deflected a strike of the knight's sword.

Lancelot was fighting Sir Maleagant on foot.

The blows they exchanged were fierce. Maleagant kicked up dust in Sir Lancelot's visor.

"You are not as chivalrous as you make yourself out to be, Maleagant, you should uphold chivalry as you swore an oath to the King!"

"You're one to talk, Lancelot! I know you've been seeing _her_ , that the King is so naïve makes me sick! But then again, if she were mine and gave me her love of her own free will, at least I would be _discreet_ about it!" Maleagant hissed in Sir Lancelot's ear.

"She is not yours to have, you perverse letch!"

Lancelot blocked the blow, swinging hard as he slashed, swinging left to right.

Their blades shone in the bright sunlight as Shirou saw Maleagant attack with a sweeping blow aimed at Lancelot's legs. Camelot's greatest knight dodged easily, beating Maleagant back with his own attacks, their blades locked together for a brief moment.

"She will be mine, one day, and you'll be dead, a traitor who would dishonor the Queen, and I will be the shining hero that exposed you for the hypocrite you are!"

Lancelot suddenly moved, quickly slamming his elbow across the knight's visor, knocking him around inside his helmet.

The Knight of the Lake easy knocked Maleagant's shield away. A sweeping slash sent the arrogant knight quickly lurched back, trying to avoid being wounded.

Their shields smashed against each other, Maleagant tried to find an opening in Lancelot's defenses, but the knight did not waver. He beat Maleagant back with his word, using a low sweep to knock Maleagant off his feet.

Lancelot held his blade to Maleagant's throat. "Yield!"

"I yield!" Maleagant said begrudgingly.

The king held up her hand, "Sir Lancelot's side is declared the victor!"

Arthur had much more on her mind besides the tourney.

Later that day, Agravain found her lost in thought.

Her nephew bowed before the king, "Uncle, I am at your service."

"Of course you are, nephew," Arthur told him, keeping her face neutral.

"Uncle, uncle!" he called to her.

"Ah, Agravain, what is it?"

"I was curious, where is the Archer of Red, he follows you around like a loyal puppy."

"It is not my job to keep track of him, he has proven sincere repentance, and that is enough for me to forgive him."

"There are many others who are more deserving of the position of Groom of the Stool than the eccentric foreigner who tried to kill you. You're as fickle as a woman when it comes to that man, Uncle!"

"I have no need of your opinion regarding women, nephew. And who would I choose as my Groom of the Stool? You?"

Arthur looked at him, "Don't pretend we're close nephew, you've never liked me, because the Orkney family resented my father because of what he did to my mother. That also has nothing to do with Shirou Emiya. You're jealous because I did not choose you as my Groom of the Stool; I have made my decision and will not change it. You have enough responsibilities as the secretary of the Round Table."

Agravain scowled at her.

"Stop scowling nephew, enjoy yourself today."

"What _exactly_ occurs in the privy chambers with him uncle?" Agravain queried.

"If you're _implying_ something, nephew, nothing happens outside of what you'd _expect_ ," Arthur glared at him.

"The Archer of Red would be the sort to bugger someone, wouldn't he? He's the sort who is, ah, what's the phrase, is an invader of the back settlements."

"Don't speak such crass things, nephew!" Arthur reprimanded him. Anal sex was deeply frowned upon. The church forbade it but people did it anyway, but to speak of it so casually in public was worse.

"He might have slept with that whore but I've seen how he looks at _you_ , perhaps he lusts after men but he doesn't want to be burnt at the stake!"

"If you're going to say I'm gay, please do say it to my face," Shirou smirked, "And if you're curious, I have only had intercourse with women, and no, I have no interest in men, and besides, being burnt at the stake isn't how I'm going to die."

"Humph, like I care, still, my uncle is wrong to trust you, and I _will_ discover what it is you're hiding."

Shirou shrugged his shoulders, "Do whatever you want, Sir Agravain."

Sir Agravain turned around and left.

"Don't mind my nephew; he can be very cruel when he wants to be."

"People like him wouldn't understand even if I told him the truth."

Shirou bowed before her, "I shall see you later, Your Majesty."

Shirou Emiya signed up for the archery contest, the third and second place prizes were appealing to him as a cook.

He could now leave Camelot of his own free will, but there was little that interested him, he wanted to stay at Saber's side.

And it would give him a chance to display his archery skills.

He hoped to do well in the archery tournament.

* * *

On the third day was the archery contest. King Arthur and Queen Guinevere arrived and Arthur stood before the crowd at the tournament.

"My friends, good people of Britain; you are here to see the finest archers compete, but the contest is only worth it if I award fine prizes to the best of them. So for the best archer of the contest, 30 pounds of gold and ten fine arrows. For the second price, a herd of fat deer from my own lands. And the third prize is a casket of fine wine."

The king and Queen took their seats on the platform.

Arthur was still deep in thought. That future self; the woman who had spoken of her unfulfilled duty to her country. She knew what would happen, Merlin had told her many times of Morgan Le Fay and her schemes, she knew her kingdom would fall someday, but why would she feel her rule was unsatisfactory?

She could ask Shirou, after all, he claimed to be from the future, he had many strange contraptions and knowledge that were beyond anything she understood, and he spoke of her legend, so he knew what had happened to her.

Meddling in the future was dangerous, and Arthur knew such things could make everything worse, but she wanted to understand this man who did not belong to is era. This man who had a deep connection to her, she had apparently sworn an oath to him at some point in her life, still, where could this relationship take them? She was pretending to be a man, which was far more complicated than Lancelot and Guinevere.

Still, the way he looked at her and when Shirou kissed her, it had been completely unexpected and yet it was…welcome.

Arthur needed time to be alone and think.

He also called her by her birth name; very rarely did Guinevere call her Arturia in private when no one was around.

Shirou Emiya, the man in her dreams and the man before her now. He was an enigma, but she did not understand what he truly wanted from her.

He knew her, and the intimacy of the relationship they had in her dreams was definitely closer than the one she had with him now. Still, she wondered what would compel her to open up to him.

She watched as Shirou Emiya walked out onto the archery field. He, along with 30 other contestants took their place and aimed their bows.

The best archers of three rounds would compete against each other.

They nocked their arrows and drew their bows, she watched him as he took aim, using their style of archery, which was not the style he had used when he had been forced to fight against her.

Shirou took aim and fired, hitting the target in the center.

The crowd cheered in awe as they looked at the different targets. The penitent mage was immensely skilled.

Each round they fired, and in each round he did very well.

The third round, a man named Gilbert was shooting. He nocked his bow and fired, hitting it in the center ring; the crowd was impressed, it was one of the finest shots they had seen in the tournament.

"A fine shot, you're an excellent archer," Shirou congratulated him.

"I need no compliments from the likes of you Mage," Gilbert glowered. "The prize money belongs to me!"

"I was hoping for the deer, but it wouldn't be fair of me to not give this archery contest my best effort," Shirou aimed his bow at the target, nocked it and aimed, reading the wind and the distance to the inner ring.

Shirou fired his arrow, splitting Gilbert's arrow. The crowd was silent, but only for a moment as they cheered such an astounding feat.

"The winner of the archery contest is Shirou Emiya!" Arthur proclaimed.

King Arthur presented Shirou with a pouch full of coins and ten arrows that impressed Shirou for their craftsmanship. "As I promised, 30 pounds of gold and ten fine arrows for your prize!"

"I thank you for your generosity, Your Highness," Shirou replied.

He took his prize and began walking back to where the castle was. He had travelled with the king, as her companion and was among the courtiers.

"Master Mage, might I ask a favor of you?" a voice spoke behind him.

"Who are you?" Shirou asked stopping and looking behind him. "What can I do for you?"

"Men call me Alf," the man replied. "I wish to become your apprentice in the kitchen."

"I cannot grant you that, only the King can grant you access to the kitchen," Shirou told him.

"I shall gain the King's permission then," Alf replied and left him.

He departed, Shirou turned to look for him and he found that he had vanished.

King Arthur sat upon her throne when she saw a fair young man approach her, he was dressed in commoners clothing, but she knew that he was anything but common.

"Your Highness, grant me a request," he bowed before her.

"I shall grant it, if it is within my power," King Arthur replied.

"Allow me to serve under your cook, the Mage Shirou Emiya," Alf requested.

"State your name sir; it is impolite to not address a man by his name."

"Men call me Alf Your Highness," he replied.

"Alf I shall grant you access to my kitchen, for I sense you are a good, honest fellow. I do not give such permissions lightly."

"Then I bless you, King Arthur, for you have done a good and noble thing," Alf told her.

Alf departed and Arthur prepared to return to Camelot with the courtiers.

The journey back to Camelot was uneventful and no adventures befell them, they returned and resumed the daily activities and routines that they always did.

"Good day to you Master Shirou!" the court jester, "Sir" Dagonet greeted him.

"Good day to you Dagonet, what can I do for you?"

Sir Dagonet was friendly with him, but that was expected of a fool. Shirou was friendly to him but Dagonet was always busy, entertaining the king and nobles of the court.

"Nothing really," Dagonet replied. "Still, I wonder, am I of use to our king? I am a brave, courageous knight and I should fight at the king's side, instead, I settle for amusing the king with mischief and jests."

Shirou smiled at him, "You have an important job, Sir Dagonet. Because yes, it's the Jester's job to entertain, but he has another job, a _deeper_ job, And that's to deliver bad news to the King. The _worst_ news of the Kingdom. The Fleet has holes. The Army's turned pacifist! The children's hands have rotted off and they can't clap for the fairies!"

The court jester laughed, "I'm glad _someone_ sees my talents!"

Shirou knew the man was prone to running away in terror at the slightest thing. But he had a good heart and considered himself to be very brave.

Dagonet looked up as a messenger called for him. "The king sends for you Dagonet, you are needed to entertain guests!"

The court jester departed, leaving Shirou alone.

"Ah Master Shirou, I am ready to begin my training as Master Cook!" Alf said as he walked up to him.

"So you were able to come here after all, good, follow me to the kitchen."

For the next few months, Shirou began training Alf to cook dishes the king enjoyed and Shirou enjoyed teaching him.

* * *

The months went by quickly. It was fall and Shirou was immensely surprised when Sir Kay approached him. Shirou had been enjoying the outdoors and the cool air.

"Queen Guinevere is feeling ill, she is sick with a fever," Sir Kay told him.

"I shall make her some soup then," Shirou used his small cook stove to prepare the soup for her.

He brought Queen Guinevere the soup. He set it down and bowed before her

Shirou entered the room and bowed in Japanese fashion, he had only seen her a few times, as she was busy entertaining ambassadors from other countries and playing hostess for many guests.

He knew from reading about the medieval time people always tried to gain the trust of royalty, in order to learn their secrets.

No doubt she had to deal with the stress of keeping Arturia's secrets, along with living with the guilt of lying to the entire country. Shirou knew that Guinevere would never have a happy life as a woman, because she could not live as a person.

Shirou noted she seemed weaker, but the grateful smile she wore warmed his heart. She took the soup he offered her with gratitude.

"Mage Shirou, I wish to hear more about the relationship you have with the king. He has told me you claim to be from the future."

The door opened and Sir Lancelot walked in.

Now Shirou always fought the urge to burst out laughing in his presence. Despite the truth of the legends that he was the fairest knight in Camelot, all he could think of was T.H. White's description of him:

 _The boy's face was as ugly as a monster's in the King's menagerie. He looked like an African ape._

Still Shirou managed to smile, so he wouldn't laugh at him.

"Your Highness, I heard you were unwell," Lancelot greeted her with a bow; his face was filled with worry and concern. "What is he doing here Majesty?"

"I have asked him to be here," Guinevere told Camelot's greatest knight. "I want him to tell me of his relationship with the king, and of the future he claims to have come from. He also brought me some soup; he says it will make me feel better."

The Queen took a bite of the soup and tasted the soup and savored it. Everything about it as just write, the chicken and broth, he had insisted on putting commoners vegetables in it and it made it taste even better with some salt.

She smiled upon him with warmth, and Shirou understood why Lancelot fell in love with her.

The queen smiled gratefully at him, "This is excellent! You are a marvelous cook!"

She finished the soup.

"Now please, tell me your story, about how you met the person you fell in love with."

"I am grateful Your Highness, now I will begin my story…"

Shirou told her of the Fifth Holy Grail War, trying to explain things as best he could.

He told her of the era in which he lived, of his ordinary life there, and of the Fuyuki fire that had almost killed him.

Shirou spoke of Kiritsugu and how he had been rescued that day. Of his mage training and of how he summoned Saber.

He told them of the secret war for the Holy Grail that he had been dragged into, not the sacred cup of Christ, but an omniscient, wish-granting device.

Shirou spoke of his first encounter with Berserker, Hercules, and of how Saber had been badly wounded and despite that; she had continued fighting to protect him. Shirou spoke of how she kept herself upright by sheer willpower.

Sir Lancelot Du Lac seemed disturbed by the Berserker class. He spoke at last. "It is truly tragic that any hero could fall into the depths of madness."

"Sharing from personal experience?" Shirou queried.

"Yes, I have fallen into madness…I remember it well, after I was tricked into marrying the Lady Elaine. After I discovered the truth the next morning, it's like mind slipped away and I had no control over myself whatsoever, and I never want to feel that way again!"

Shirou was troubled by his words. Shirou was unsure of what to say to him.

Queen Guinevere changed the subject, "Your Servant Saber, did she tell you her real name?"

"She did not tell me her true identity, but my teacher Rin Tohsaka figured out who she was."

"Your teacher is clever, she learned the identity of your Servant before you did," Guinevere observed.

"I always admired Tohsaka because she is brilliant," Shirou smiled

"Will you tell us more of your tale tomorrow?" The Queen asked.

"Yes," Shirou replied.

He told them tales of battling Shinji and of how Saber had killed Medusa using Excalibur.

And so he told them most of what had happened, although he did not go into the lascivious details of his intimate encounters with Saber, they understood that he had made love to her on two separate occasions.

Shirou noticed that their expressions changed as he continued his story, and he knew they had deduced Saber's identity as well.

The Queen and the knight were fascinated by his story, but when he quietly revealed that he loved Saber more than anything, the Queen merely put her hand over her mouth and gasped.

Lancelot gave him a very stern look but didn't say a word.

Then he revealed his deepest secret, of how he survived all his battles, he traced Avalon and showed it to them.

Lancelot took it from him in awe, "Your father saved your life with this, you say? How did he come by it?"

"I don't know," Shirou admitted. "I will give it back to her, when she finally understands how much she means to me."

"You will be rewarded greatly, my friend!" Lancelot smiled.

"I don't need any reward; it was never mine in the first place. It disappeared after the war ended and she vanished."

He spoke to them of what he had discovered about the Holy Grail, of how it had become corrupted.

Shirou told them of their many battles, of the corrupt Grail and how he'd been subjected to all the world's evil. Every crime ever committed. I remember the voices that screamed for me to die. I remember the agony I felt then, and I never forgot it."

"So I projected Avalon, to break the curse Kirei Kotomine cast on me, and running forward, I used the Azoth dagger Rin had given me and a spell to shatter his heart."

"I found Saber alone, she had defeated Gilgamesh, and she was waiting for me."

"Master, give the order. Without your command, I cannot destroy it," Saber told me. You'll have to use your last command seal."

"I grappled with that decision, I loved Saber, and I wanted her to be happier than anyone else. I wanted to keep being with her. But I knew that if I loved her, that would be wrong. It was the Saber that kept on fighting, even when wounded that I fell in love with. Her pride is the one thing I mustn't injure. And I made my decision. I told her to destroy the Holy Grail."

"I watched the wind blow across her hair and dress. She did not look at me, but she spoke, "It's all over now, isn't it?" Saber told me in a quiet voice.

"Yeah," I replied. "This is the end."

"As your sword, I have slain your enemies and protected you at every turn. I am glad I was able to carry out that oath."

"And as my sword, you are amazing," I answered her.

"There is one last thing I must tell you… Shirou, please know that…that I love you," Saber told me. And with that, she vanished, returning to Camlann where she will die."

Lancelot and Guinevere could say nothing, the Queen was on the verge of tears, but she held them back.

"She told me, "The Holy Grail and I are both dreams that should have never existed. I'm sorry; I hope you can forgive me. This was a misguided wish, and these were days that weren't meant to be, but this weakness of mine has granted a young girl, brief utopia."

Shirou stood to his feet, "My goal is to chase her for the rest of my life, and my dearest hope is that she will wait in that Utopia for me. I have taken up too much of your time Your Highness, if you need anything at all, just ask for me."

He bowed before them in Japanese fashion and left the room.

"Lancelot, what do we do? We can't tell her, she won't understand."

"I suppose all we can do is watch over her like we have, and keep the Archer of Red's secrets to ourselves."

"Yes, poor man, I do not think he will ever be able to find his Saber again. Not with Arturia and how she is now, she will never see him as anything more than her friend. She's never seen herself as a woman anyway. Poor man, if only he could go home to his time, I think he would be happier there."

After what Shirou Emiya had told them, Arthur's Queen and the best knight in Camelot were unsure of what to think.

* * *

It was early winter and Shirou was keeping busy.

He had spent months preparing a cake for the Festival of Good Children; the noble children in Camelot were excited, they had never seen anything like it.

When Shirou presented the cake to the children, they were amazed, the cake was splendid, and they ate it with delight.

Shirou's apprentice, Alf, approached him. "Here, this is for you, it is your creation and you deserve to eat some of it."

"Thank you, Alf," Shirou told him.

Shirou ate the cake quietly, enjoying his dessert he'd made for the Feast of Good Children. Alf had given him the slice saying that Master Cook should enjoy his creation.

He did not notice what he had swallowed nor did he give it any thought.

It wasn't until later that he realized he'd been given a precious gift.

Days after the Feast of Good Children, Shirou told King Arthur he would be departing for the day.

Arthur did not personally see him off, but wished him well, bidding him to return safely to Camelot.

"Should you find the maiden Olwen, send word to me," Arthur told him.

"Of course, Your Highness," Shirou replied, leaving her presence.

Alf approached him, "Come walk with me awhile, there is somewhere I wish to take you."

They walked a long ways. Shirou turned to him.

"What do you want from me, King of Fairy?" Shirou asked.

"How did you know?" Alf asked.

"It's not hard to know if you read certain books," Shirou smiled.

"I will permit you to see her, just once. It is what she desires."

"I am honored sir, that you would let me see her again."

"Go up into the hills and enter a cave beneath a tree in Gwynedd, and when you find an exit, you shall see her."

"How is this possible?" Shirou asked him.

"I have permitted it, because of your great love for her, and she is a friend to fairy. I have given you a star that will allow you to enter the realm of Avalon, but only once, for I intend to give it to someone else."

"I understand, Your Highness," Shirou bowed before him in Japanese fashion.

He found the cave that Alf had pointed to and entered it. Shirou's heart hammered in his chest. He was going to see Saber again.

* * *

Arthur found herself missing the Groom of the Stool, she had grown used to his company.

She went to bed early, she needed to sleep.

That night Arturia Pendragon had a dream.

 _It was a dream from her childhood when she and Kay had been playing a game of Rover, where they would pick various targets to shoot with their bows as they explored the area around the Castle of Forest Sauvage where she lived with Sir Ector and Kay._

 _Those were her carefree days when she'd been called Wart, and had longed for knighthood. When she'd been under the tutelage of Merlin._

 _Arturia remembered how she had shot her best arrow up into the sky. She had watched it's brilliant movement as it soared up into the trees and just it was about to start its journey downward it had been snatched away by an ugly gore crow._

 _Kay insisted the crow was a witch. He was frightened._

 _Arturia on the other hand had been furious. The gore crow had stolen her best arrow and she'd never gotten it back._

 _In her dream she chased the arrow as it flew, it flew far, far away until it landed in a golden field, so beautiful it dazzled her eyes._

 _But what landed in that golden field was not her best arrow, but the Archer of Red, Shirou Emiya._

 _Arthur was indeed surprised that standing in that golden field was a perfect double of herself, wearing a splendid dress and smiling upon him with so much love, it moved Arthur deeply._

 _"Saber!" he called to her._

 _But she was already running to him, in an instant, she was in his arms, their lips met, and the universe, was at last, perfect._

Arthur woke up, and sighed, she had wanted the dream to continue, so she could understand the Mage, but try as she might, she could not return to that dream.

* * *

Shirou Emiya stood in the golden fields of Avalon, surrounded by the beauty of the realm of fairies, focusing only on Saber, and nothing else. His arms were securely wrapped around her waist.

"Saber, it's been so long. You haven't changed, you're still youthful, triumphant, and…" he leaned in close as he smiled at her. "Over-excited."

Saber reached up and stroked his cheek. "Since when am I over-excited?"

"Oh, you are, and I can't stop myself any longer," Shirou pulled her against him again.

Their kiss was gentle at first, but as their lips parted and met again, their desires only increased.

"Whatever love you have for me, I have more for you, for the whole of my heart is at your disposal," Shirou murmured in her ear.

"Since when did you become so eloquent?" Saber asked.

"I didn't come up with it; it was King Louis XIV of France, the Sun King who said it."

"I have missed you, Shirou, welcome home," Saber stroked his cheek.

"Saber, about what happened, I swear—" Shirou began to apologize. "Or I should not swear at all. Or, if I will, swear by thy gracious self, which is the god of my idolatry, and you'll believe me."

"There is no need to do that, Shirou," Saber threaded her fingers through his hair.

"Unfortunately, I know I can't stay long, Alf told me where to go, so that I might see you again."

"Alf, is that what the King of Fairy called himself?"

Saber smiled. "I have waited so long for you, Shirou; with nothing but the dreams we share for me to see you."

Shirou pulled Saber against him, he embraced her tightly.

Saber gently took one of his hands in hers, and guided it to her breast.

"Is that what you want, Saber?"

"I love you, you know that, and I have waited for you for so long, would you leave me so unsatisfied?"

"No, never!" Shirou began kissing her again, slipping his tongue into her mouth, kneading her clothed breast, he pressed his lips against hers as she pulled off the holy shroud he wore, only parting it so she could lift it over his head.

"You are overdressed Saber," Shirou murmured as he pulled dress down, letting it fall onto the grass.

"Shirou, please…"

Shirou undressed quickly, pulling her against him, he slowly lowered her into the grass.

"Lay down Saber, let me pleasure you," Shirou murmured. "I'll die if I don't taste you."

"You're going to drive me mad if you keep saying that," she groaned.

Shirou took her nipple in his mouth and sucked.

Saber ran her fingers through his hair, murmuring, "Feels so good, Shirou!"

Shirou moved to her left breast and repeated his ministration.

He kissed his way down her belly until he parted her legs. His tongue pressed into her opening, he tasted and sucked gently.

"Shirou!" Saber called to him. She began to rock her hips against his face.

He worked her with this tongue as he sped up his rhythm.

He pulled away from her, replacing his lips and tongue with his fingers, slowly adding more, "You're moaning, I want you to scream my name when you come."

"By my faith, you'll be the death of me!" Saber bucked against him.

"That's it Saber, Come for me!" Shirou pushed his fingers in and out of her.

He smiled broadly as Saber screamed his name, throwing her head back, pressing her head against the grass. She breathed hard.

"Shirou…" Saber panted, pulling him against her.

She began to stroke his manhood, "You're a man with a great wit, you know."

She laughed, "Your soldier is standing for me, I am going to enjoy this."

"Your euphemisms are strange to me, but I won't—have time to think about it!"

Shirou moaned, he felt release hit him as he grunted. He kissed her lips again.

Saber pulled him on top of her, positioning him in front of her as she gazed up at him for several minutes, slowly stroking him to arousal again.

He thrust against her, pushing his erection inside her.

"Saber, it's been so long!" he groaned.

"Yes, Shirou, far too long!" Saber rocked her hips, taking more of him as he met her rhythm.

Suddenly, she rolled him over, so she was straddling him.

"Mine!" Saber growled.

"Do you not have the right of prima noctis?" Shirou laughed.

Saber playfully slapped his chest, "Nonsense! If I allowed something like that, the peasants would revolt and the realm of Logres would no longer be the blessed place it is right now. As I'm not a man, it would also cause problems."

"Sorry, I enjoy teasing you a little," Shirou kissed her again.

"You've been reading too many of your fantasy books I suppose," Saber smiled.

They began another rhythm, he reached up to fondle her breast as he continued to kiss her while she rode him as fast and as hard as she could.

Shirou felt her slip her arms around him, clawing his back as she cried out his name as she reached orgasm.

He too called for her, as he spilled himself inside her, gripping her hips. He calmed himself as they settled in a heap on the soft golden grass.

Saber rested her head against his bare chest, her eyes drifted closed as she slept a little.

When she awoke, she found Shirou, smiling down at her. She noticed something in his hands. He had just finished making it. A crown of flowers he'd found in the fields of Avalon.

He placed it on her head, "It suits you."

"Such a flatterer!" she smiled, taking his hand in hers.

She turned away from him for a moment. "I feel like this is a dream that I never want to wake up from."

"Then we can enjoy the dream a little longer," Shirou murmured, kissing her bare shoulder as he entered her from behind.

"You should warn me, Shirou," she gasped. He set a quick rhythm, and she let him do as he pleased.

His hands thoroughly explored her body, stroking her breasts, her belly, and his fingers once again slipped between her legs.

His fingers stroked her, slowly coaxing her toward pleasure.

Shirou slammed into her, quickening his pace, his breathing was ragged. He reveled in being iwth her again like this. "I love you!"

His fingers were merciless, never stopping until Saber senses left her as she tensed around him.

"Shirou! Shirou!" Saber called to him again, "Let me see your face!"

He craned her head as his kissed her, speeding up his movements until she climaxed. Saber felt Shirou orgasmed inside her, groaning her name.

"Shirou, I'm spent! Utterly spent!" Saber panted.

He moved her around to face him.

"I don't want to move for awhile," Shirou wrapped his arms around her. Shirou kissed her cheek.

"I really must ask, since I don't understand your medieval slang, what did Agravain mean by, "invader of the back settlements?"

Saber laughed, "I believe what you call anal sex."

Shirou raised an eyebrow. "I see."

"You have been here a long time, and I know it is late," Saber whispered sadly.

"I don't want to leave you," Shirou told her, kissing her gently.

"You must, it cannot be helped," Saber caressed his cheek, running her fingers through his hair. Shirou dressed and stood to his feet

She stood to her feet and picked up the dress. Shirou moved and took it from her, dressing her carefully.

The mage moved towards her, embracing her tenderly.

They sat back down as Shirou rested his head in her lap.

They talked of many things for long hours, about his life, and Taiga, Sakura and Rin.

Saber pulled him into an embrace, kissing him deeply.

"Shirou, please know that I love you," she told him sincerely.

"I love you more than anything, I will see you soon. I will find you one day," he swore to her.

'That is truth indeed,' Saber told him. "Love comes as a gift divine, and must be treated with all honor and reverence: he is no true knight who would do aught to bring a stain upon it."

"I know, Saber, I know," Shirou rested his head on her shoulder.

"I will wait for you here, Shirou," Saber told him, running her fingers through his hair.

"I will pursue you for the rest of eternity; I will come back here, where I will stay with you forever."

"Kiss me once more before we part," Saber whispered.

Their kiss was passionate and desperate, knowing that they would not see each other again as they had been. She tasted his tongue and stroked his hair; he let his fingers play with her long blonde strands, toying with them gently.

"I'm going now; I bid you a very fond farewell Saber. Good-bye," Shirou said as he turned and walked away, stepping out back into the cave entrance, and when he tried to look back at her, all he could see was the darkness of the cave of Gwynedd.

* * *

Shirou Emiya returned to Camelot in the twilight of the evening, when the sun was setting beautifully, he was welcomed by the gatekeeper, Glewlwyd Gavaelvawr.

Arthur looked at him in awe. She had seen many handsome, fair men in her life, but there was a light in his eyes and it made Shirou Emiya beautiful to her.

"Dear man, where have you been?" Arthur asked.

"To see the one I love," Shirou replied.

"So I see," Arthur told him, "And the one you love, was she glad to see you?"

"Yes," Shirou told her.

Arthur was alone with no one else in the room.

She wondered how it was possible for him to see her, since she was here in Camelot, was it some sort of magecraft?

She was confused.

Shirou returned to his room.

A servant came to him. "The King calls for you."

Shirou arrived in the feasting hall, he saw Cullwch speaking to Arthur.

"Everyone has received his boon, and I yet lack mine. I will depart and bear away your honor with me."

"Rash Prince! Do you reproach Arthur? Go with us, and we will not part until you do either confess that the maiden exists not in the world, or until we obtain her," Kay told him.

"We will set out on this quest immediately!" Arthur told them. The knights and the servants began preparing to leave.

"Shirou, you will come with us. Your skills as a mage will be needed."

"I am honrored that you would take me with you on a quest," Shirou told her, bowing.

"May we return triumphant and successful," Arhtur told him.

"I hope so," Shirou said to her. He could only hope, if he could prevent Gwydre's death, only then would he consider the quest successful.


	12. The Giant Yspaddaden Penkawr

**The Giant Yspaddaden Penkawr**

 ** _Author's Note:_** _My love/hate relationship with this story has kicked in again, I love writing/updating, but I hate that people won't leave me alone for chapters 5-9. UGH! Constant pestering about those chapters is what made me quit to go write other things, and now I have to deal with it again. This is why I hate the Fate Fan Dumb. They won't let you bend the rules even a little bit, and you can't play around in the sandbox._

 _Thank you so much for all the positive reviews, I just get really bummed by all the same criticisms over my story decisions, it gets really tiring and the reason I quit last time besides writer's block is that the negativity I get seemed to constant, no matter what I did._

 _The Ban sword has been pulled from the stone, If all you do is come here to say I "Don't understand the Nasuverse" then you'll get banned, and don't even think about anonymous reviews, I moderate everything, so automatic deletion will ensue._

 _I_ **NEVER** _thought this fanfic would be big, I thought it would be relatively small, like 50 reviews or something like that. I thought it would be fun to deconstruct a lot of Shirou time travel fanfics and s everyone loving Shirou. I also thought I'd deconstruct the idea Shirou having a perfect relationship with Saber back then too. I didn't expect people to get bent out of shape about it. I didn't expect all this backlash from Nasuverse fans, and it is very hard for me to enjoy feedback when what I've been getting is negative, but I will press on, because I have a story to tell._

 _I am really enjoying writing this, but I only have six fanfics that hit over 100 reviews and so I'm not used to my writing getting so much positive and negative attention. I had initially expected this to be stuck in an obscure corner of the Fate/Stay Night section._

 **N0OB CAT:** _Thank you for telling me about Sir Gareth being gender-flipped female, I went back and fixed it!_

 **Holix25:** _I added scenes in chapter eleven just for you!_

 **Vhosek:** _Thank yo ufor all the encouraging words, I really appreciate it!_

 **Aeonir:** _I get what you're saying, but for me the author who "doesn't have an understanding of the Nasuverse" I got a lot of favorites and reviews, I know I don't have the most perfect understanding of the Nasuverse, but is my story to write, not yours and saying my work is "beyond retarded" is impolite and you're a jerk, so you're permabanned from this fanfic, if you don't like it, go write your own, go write your own. Let me play around in the Nasuverse playground, and you can go write your own fanfic._

 ** _Stratos263:_** _Glad you're enjoying the story so far!_ ** _  
_**

 _Fanfic writing is supposed to be stress relief for me, and now all the negativity I get on this fanfic gives me unwanted stress. I have less stress writing my Angel Beast review than I get reading feedback for this fanfic! UGH!_

 _This arc will go pretty quick because this IS a pre-existing story; I'm just modernizing some of the dialogue and adding some scenes that aren't in the original tale._

 _Pardon me while I go de-stress with "A Cruel Angel Thesis" for awhile!_

* * *

The next day a great host departed from Camelot. The Knights of the Round Table went with her. Shirou rode a horse beside the king, who was riding her mare Llamrei.

King Arthur was lost in thought, she knew Shirou loved her; she could be the only one he'd ever spoken of when it came to women. She wasn't a fool, and she had managed to hear bit and pieces of the story he'd told Guinevere and Lancelot.

Arthur knew she shouldn't ask him about their relationship. But nothing could become of it, not the way she was now. Britain was far more important than her individual happiness after all. Still, that dream she had, the Arturia that looked on Shirou Emiya was love and adoration, left her vexed and confused.

The first night of camping, Shirou was outside the camp, gathering firewood when he was approached by an old man.

Guenbors was Lancelot's uncle, but everyone called him Uncle Dap. He had taken an interest to watching Shirou, and the mage suspected the old man knew something about him, and was merely biding his time to confront him about it.

"Is there something I can help you with Uncle Dap?" Shirou asked.

"Tell me Archer of Red, do you believe in fortune?" the old man asked.

"Fortune is a fickle whore, but she does smile, and sometimes…she tells you secrets," Shirou replied.

"Is that so?" Guenbors moved so he and Shirou were out of earshot of the rest of the camp. "Then she must visit me often, I know all sorts of secrets she told me. About my nephew and the Queen and even about you and the King."

"So what kind of secrets did she tell you?" Shirou asked.

"That my nephew loves the Queen, and the king is not as he appears."

Shirou raised his eyebrow, "Oh, how so?"

Lancelot's Uncle Dap pulled him close and whispered, "I saw you burning the king's bloody trousers one night. A man does not bleed between his legs!"

"And what do you intend to do with this...information?" Shirou kept his eyes on the old man.

"Don't worry your foreign self over it, by God's Head, you're a protective one!" he exclaimed.

"I keep many secrets, both for my nephew Lance and now you," Uncle Dap sighed. "I was the first to figure it out, you know, the two of them. And now I know why the King says nothing about it. Heh, is there anyone in this place that isn't lying or without secrets?"

"No old man, everyone has their secrets, what are you going to do now?" Shirou asked.

"Nothing at all, I don't want to upset anyone, and who's going to believe me anyway?"

"You're a smart man, Uncle Dap," Shirou smiled. "Just don't say anything."

They returned to camp and Shirou cooked dinner for the king.

"Your Highness, is something wrong?" Shirou asked.

"I rarely have dreams, but I had one, about my childhood, when an ugly gore crow snatched an arrow out of the air and snatched it away. I have a bad feeling about this quest, and it is an ill omen I think."

Shirou took her by the shoulders, "Everything will be fine, I will make sure of it!"

She smiled at him, "You do try to reassure me, Shirou."

Shirou placed his hand on her shoulder in a reassuring gesture. "I'm going to fight with you to the end."

"I thank you, my friend, for some reason I do take comfort in those words."

Shirou bowed before her and left her for the night.

* * *

The next day they set out from their camp until they came to a wide open field. Far ahead of them, Shirou saw the most beautiful castle he'd ever seen, but no matter how far they rode, they ever seemed to get any closer to it.

They came to a field filled with a vast amount of sheep, more than he'd ever seen.

Shirou saw a large mound and atop it sat a man, covered in skins. He was a herdsman and beside him with a giant mastiff larger than a nine year old horse. As far as Shirou could see, dead trees littered the landscape.

"Sir Bedivere, what happened to the trees?" Shirou asked.

"They were burnt down to the ground by the giant's breath," Bedivere replied.

Shirou didn't even want to think about that.

Kay said, "Gwrhyr Gwalstawt Ieitheodd, Go you and salute yonder man."

"Gwrhyr told him, "I engaged not to go further than you yourself."

"Let us go then, together," Kay told him.

The small group moved toward the herdsman.

Menw son of Tiergwaedd was a mage who could cast spells to make them invisible. Arthur had requested that he accompany them.

Menw told them, "Fear not and go thither, for I will cast a spell upon the dog, so he shall injure no one."

Kay said to the giant, "How do you fare? O herdsman!"

"No less fair, be it to you or me," the herdsman replied.

"Truly, are you the chief?" Kay asked.

"There is no hurt to injure me but my own," the giant glanced at him.

"Whose are the sheep that you do keep, and to whom does yonder castle belong?" Kay asked.

"Stupid are you, truly! Through the wide world it is known that this is the castle of Yspaddaden Penkawr."

"And who are you?" Kay asked him.

"I am called Custennin the son of Dyfnedig, and my brother Yspaddaden Penkawr oppressed me because of my possessions. And you also, who are you?" Custennin asked him.

"We are an embassy from Arthur, come to seek Olwen the daughter of Yspaddaden Penkawr," Kay said to him.

"Oh men! The mercy of Heaven be upon you, do not that for all the world. None who ever came here on this quest has returned alive." Then the herdsman rose to his feet.

Culhwch gave Custennin a gold ring and the herdsman sought to put it on, but because it didn't fit, he put it on the finger of his glove instead.

The herdsman took it home to his wife and she was surprised.

"Whence came this ring, for you are not wont to have good fortune?"

"I went," he said, "to the sea to seek for fish, and lo, I saw a corpse borne by the waves. And a fairer corpse than it did I never behold. And from its finger did I take this ring."

"O man! Does the sea permit its dead to wear jewels? Show me then this body."

"Oh wife, him to whom this ring belonged you shall see here in the evening."

"And who is he?" asked the woman.

"Culhwch the son of Kilydd, the son of Prince Kelyddon, by Goleuddydd the daughter of Prince Anlawdd, his mother, who is come to seek Olwen as his wife."

His wife was overjoyed because she was going to see her nephew, her sister's son, but was also sad, because no one who had ever gone out on that quest had returned alive.

When the knights arrived at the castle. The herdsman's wife ran out to greet them. When she was about to put her arms around their necks, Kay grabbed a billet from the pile and put it between her hands. She was so strong that the billet twisted into a coil between her hands.

"Oh woman," said Kai, "if you had squeezed me thus, none could ever again have set their affections on me. Evil love were this."

She didn't say anything but let them into the house. She served them dinner and afterwards they tried to find ways to amuse themselves.

Then the woman opened a chest in the chimney-corner and out popped a blonde-haired youth arose a youth with yellow curling hair. Gawain said, "It is a pity to hide this youth. I know that it is not his own crime that is thus visited upon him."

"This is but a remnant," said the woman. "Twenty-three of my sons has Yspaddaden Penkawr slain, and I have no more hope of this one than of the others."

Then said Kai, "Let him come and be a companion with me, and he shall not be slain unless I also am slain with him."

And they ate. And the woman asked them, "Upon what errand come you here?"

"We come to seek Olwen for this youth."

Then said the woman, "In the name of Heaven, since no one from the castle has yet seen you, return again whence you came."

"Heaven is our witness, that we will not return until we have seen the maiden." Kay asked, "Does she ever come here, so that she may be seen?"

"She comes here every Saturday to wash her head, and in the vessel where she washes, she leaves all her rings, and she never either comes herself or sends any messengers to fetch them."

"Will she come here if she is sent to?"

"Heaven knows that I will not destroy my soul, nor will I betray those that trust me; unless you will pledge me your faith that you will not harm her, I will not send to her."

"We pledge it," said they. So a message was sent, and she came.

Olwen was clothed in a fine robe of flame-colored silk and wore a chain that was the color of ruddy gold.

She had lovely blonde-hair and bright eyes. Her pale skin was lovely and she was beautiful to them. And Shirou understood all the stories where the knight instantaneously fell in love with the beautiful maiden.

Sometimes Shirou wondered if his instantaneous love for Saber had been a fluke, but no, Saber came from an era where such things were quite common, and he wondered if Saber might fall in love with him as he had with her.

Still, to watch Culwch and Olwen together was interesting.

Olwen had lovely blonde hair and bright eyes; she was pale and beautiful to look upon. Shirou noted that four white trifoils would spring up wherever she walked.

So love at first sight wasn't just a fairy tale after all.

She entered the house, and sat beside Culhwch on the bench; and as soon as he saw her he knew her. And Culhwch said to her, "Ah! Maiden, you are she whom I have loved; come away with me, lest they speak evil of you and of me. Many a day have I loved you."

"I cannot do this, for I have pledged my faith to my father not to go without his counsel, for his life will last only until the time of my espousals. Whatever is, must be. But I will give you advice if you will take it. Go, ask me of my father, and that which he shall require of you, grant it, and you will obtain me; but if you deny him anything, you will not obtain me, and it will be well for you if you escape with your life."

"I promise all this, if occasion offer," the young prince promised.

Then she departed and returned home and the knights followed her.

They sent Shirou out to scout the castle and he did so without alerting the porters or the guard dogs.

"What are we going to do about the men?" Kay asked.

"We have enough men to kill the porters," Bedivere told him.

"What about the dogs?" Gwydre queried.

"You handle the men, I'll handle the dogs!" Shirou replied, walking away.

The Archer of Red vanished from sight and they spotted him up on a high ridge.

Shirou spotted the other knights as they crept up to the gates. They simultaneously killed the nine porters and before the guard dogs realized what was going on, Shirou took careful aim and fired his arrows, quickly firing them in succession. The guard dogs dropped dead before they could so much as bark.

And they went forward to the hall. Shirou approached the giant with the king, who strode forward fearlessly. Arthur spoke.

"The greeting of heaven and of man be unto you, Yspaddaden Penkawr!" Arthur said.

Shirou looked up at the giant and wondered if this is where the Titans of _Shingeki No Kiyojin_ came from. The giant certainly was big enough, and since his daughter was the size of an ordinary girl of this time period, he didn't even want to know how this had even happened in the first place.

"And you, wherefore come you?"

"We come to ask for your daughter Olwen, for Culhwch the son of Kilydd, the son of Prince Kelyddon," the King of Knights told him.

"Where are my pages and my servants? Raise up the forks beneath my two eyebrows which have fallen over my eyes, that I may see the fashion of my son-in-law."

The other knights raised up his eyebrows. The giant looked at him. "Come back here tomorrow and you shall have an answer."

So they rose up to leave Yspaddaden Penkawr and the giant suddenly moved, grabbing one of three poison arrows that lay beside him. He hurled it at Bedivere.

The knight whirled around and caught the arrow; he threw it back at the giant. The arrow pierced the giant and went through his knee.

Then the giant roared in agony, "A cursed ungentle son-in-law, truly. I shall ever walk the worse for his rudeness, and shall ever be without a cure. This poisoned iron pains me like the bite of a gadfly. Cursed be the smith who forged it, and the anvil whereon it was wrought! So sharp is it!"

* * *

"We'll retreat for now," Arthur told them. They returned to the herdsman Custinnen's house and ate there.

While they were eating Arthur congratulated Bedivere for his impressive feat, wounding the giant with his own poison arrow. "It takes great skill to wound a giant with his own arrow, especially since they are much larger than ordinary arrows."

Llacheu agreed, "An extraordinary feat indeed."

"Too bad it couldn't have been on one of us," Loholt grumbled.

"Ha, I would have thrown it through the heart!" Amhar boasted.

"The way you throw? Bollocks!" Gwydre smirked.

"That's rich!" Shirou chuckled loud enough for Amhar to hear.

"Did you say something to me Archer of Red?" Amhar asked, he'd never liked the man ever since he'd laid eyes on him, and it incensed him to see that his father had taken such a liking to him.

"Yeah, I find it funny when an ass struts around in lion's skin!" Shirou smirked.

Amhar smiled at Shirou, he leapt to his feet and rushed at Shirou, seeking to strike him.

Shirou gripped Amhar's wrist and forced it behind his back.

"You really needed to calm down. It would do you good."

Amhar glanced at his father, "Father please, chastise him!"

"Unfortunately, the Mage is right, you _are_ an ass strutting around d in a lion's skin," Arthur told him. "Cool your head, you need to be alert for tomorrow, and maybe you'll impress me with your skills my son."

The prince glared at the mage, "I won't forget this!"

"I'm shaking with fear," Shirou smirked.

Shirou let him go and Amhar departed to another room to sulk.

Shirou bowed before the king, "Forgive me Your Highness, I've overstepped my bounds."

"He needs someone to chastise him, he doesn't listen to me," Arthur gazed at him.

They retired for the night; it was going to be a long day tomorrow.

* * *

The next day they dressed themselves in armor and once again entered the castle.

Arthur spoke to the giant again.

"Yspaddaden Penkawr, give us your daughter in consideration of her dower and her maiden fee, which we will pay to you and to her two kinswomen likewise. And unless you will do so, you shall meet with your death on her account."

Then Yspaddaden Penkawr said, "Her four great-grandmothers, and her four great-grandfathers are yet alive, it is needful that I take counsel of them."

"Be it so," Arthur answered, "we will go to meat."

The group turned to leave, Yspaddaden Penkawr jumped up and grabbed the second arrow, he hurled it at the group. It narrowly missed Menw but Shirou caught it.

He grabbed it in his hand, it was heavier than an ordinary arrow, but he still held it. "Trace on!"

He projected a bow and fired it back at the giant. The poisoned arrow entered his chest and exited out his lower back.

"A cursed ungentle son-in-law, truly," he roared. "The hard iron pains me like the bite of a horse-leech. Cursed be the hearth whereon it was heated, and the smith who formed it! So sharp is it! Henceforth, whenever I go up a hill, I shall have a scant in my breath, and a pain in my chest, and I shall often loathe my food."

* * *

One again, they lodged at the herdsman Custinnen's home. The knights crowded around Shirou, slapping him on the back and praising his great feat of piercing the giant through the chest with his own arrow.

"A fine shot sir," Lancelot placed a hand on his shoulder.

"There's no need to flatter me," Shirou replied.

"This feat should have been mine to accomplish, not yours!" Amhar moved quickly and struck Shirou, drawing blood from his lower lip.

Lancelot and Kay gripped the Prince.

"You rash prince, one knows better than to strike a mage! He could curse us in his anger!" Bedivere shouted.

"Amhar!" Arthur scolded him. Lancelot saw a flicker of anger cross the king's face, and he knew that it was because he had struck someone close to her.

"Kay, tie his wrists, I'm going to flog him!" Arthur commanded him.

"Yes Your Highness!" Kay did as he was ordered.

"Father, be reasonable, the whipping boy will take my place!"

"No, the whipping boy is for when I am away, besides, you feel very little empayour for him as it is! Physically punishing you is reserved for me and me alone. It is the only way you learn anything! You have provoked him twice and I won't have quarrelling among my own men because of you."

Lancelot had re-entered the house with a whip, which he gave to the king.

Twenty lashes, that was enough for him. Amhar glared at Shirou, seething in a rage.

The blood dripped down his back and the prince groaned in agony.

"Take him to the physician and have is back bandaged, you will rejoin us once you have recovered. Don't antagonize him again, it never bodes well."

Amhar scowled as he was led away to the physician.

Arthur took leave to relieve himself, and took Shirou with her.

Shirou cleaned her off and took the bucket away. He came back after he cleaned his hands.

Arthur looked at him. He noted the worried expression on her face.

Arthur sighed, "What am I going to do with that boy? He never listens to me."

"May I speak candidly, Your Highness?" Shirou asked.

"I suggest you make it a practice, Mage Shirou Emiya," Arthur replied.

"It is hardly your fault that your son is an ass. I think more than anything he hopes to gain your approval."

Arthur reached up to gently touch his cheek, "I suppose you are right. I thank you for being honest with me."

Shirou accompanied her back into the house.

* * *

They slept and once again, dressed themselves in armor and entered the castle.

As they approached the giant again, he said to them, "Shoot not at me again unless you desire death. Where are my attendants? Lift up the forks of my eyebrows which have fallen over my eyeballs, that I may see the fashion of my son-in-law."

They once again lifted up the giant's eyes and he looked at them. As they were leaving Yspaddaden Penkawr caught up the third arrow and hurled it at them. This time, Culhwch caught it and threw it back at him vigorously.

The arrow passed through the giant's eye and came out the back of his head.

Yspaddaden Penkawr howled in agony, "As long as I remain alive, my eyesight will be the worse. Whenever I go against the wind, my eyes will water; and peradventure my head will burn, and I shall have a giddiness every new moon. Cursed be the fire in which it was forged. Like the bite of a mad dog is the stroke of this poisoned iron."

And so they ate, congratulating Culhwch for his bravery and accomplishment of sending the arrow through the giant's eye.

Amhar said nothing, but still skulked in silence.

* * *

The next day they returned and Arthur gave Yspaddaden Penkawr a warning.

"Shoot not at us any more, unless you desire such hurt, and harm, and torture as you now have, and even more."

Culhwch stepped forward, "Give me your daughter, and if you will not give her, you shall receive your death because of her."

The giant had them prop his enormous eyelids open again.

"Where is he that seeks my daughter? Come here where I may see you." And they placed a chair in front of the giant so that Culhwch was face to face with him.

Yspaddaden Penkawr asked, "Is it you that seeks my daughter?"

"It is I," answered Culhwch.

"I must have your pledge that you will not do towards me otherwise than is just, and when I have gotten that which I shall name, my daughter you shall have."

"I promise thee that willingly," said Culhwch, "Name what you will."

"I will do so," he said. The giant would never let this man marry his daughter, no one had ever completed any of the tasks he'd given them, and no one would.

"See you yonder vast hill?" Yspaddaden Penkawr pointed outside.

"I see it," the prince replied.

"I require that it be rooted up, and that the grubbings be burned for manure on the face of the land, and that it be plowed and sown in one day, and in one day that the grain ripen. And of that wheat I intend to make food and liquor fit for the wedding of you and my daughter. And all this I require done in one day."

"It will be easy for me to accomplish this, although you may think that it will not be easy," the prince was confident.

The giant's expression was wicked.

"Though this be easy for thee, there is yet that which will not be so. No husbandman can till or prepare this land, so wild is it, except Amaethon the son of Don, and he will not come with thee by his own free will, and you will not be able to compel him."

"It will be easy for me to accomplish this, although you may think that it will not be easy," the prince responded. This was going to be a long conversation.

"Though you get this, there is yet that which you will not get. Govannon the son of Don to come to the headland to rid the iron, he will do no work of his own good will except for a lawful king, and you will not be able to compel him."

"It will be easy for me to accomplish this," Culhwch said, no doubt his cousin could persuade him to work.

"Though thou get this, there is yet that which you will not get; the two dun oxen of Gwlwlyd, both yoked together, to plow the wild land yonder stoutly. He will not give them of his own free will, and you will not be able to compel him."

The prince was still brimming with confidence. "It will be easy for me to accomplish this."

Shirou knew this was a battle of wits, of course, most people would have either given up after he'd listed these tasks or they would sit through the entirety of his demands only to fail to accomplish them.

"Though you get this, there is yet that which you will not get; the yellow and the brindled bull yoked together do I require."

"It will be easy for me to compass this," the prince told him.

Shirou was impressed that they would all remember this and in what order they were supposed to accomplish these things.

The giant was becoming very animated, as if he were conjuring up new tasks in this quest on the spot.

"Though you get this, there is yet that which you will not get; the two horned oxen, one of which is beyond, and the other this side of the peaked mountain, yoked together in the same plough. And these are Nynniaw and Peibaw, whom God turned into oxen on account of their sins."

"It will be easy for me to compass this," Culhwch wouldn't let the giant win the war of words yet.

"Though you get this, there is yet that which you will not get. See you yonder red tilled ground?" the giant pointed.

"I see it," the prince replied, following where he had pointed.

"When first I met the mother of this maiden, nine bushels of flax were sown therein, and none has yet sprung up, neither white nor black; and I have the measure by me still. I require to have the flax to sow in the new land under, that when it grows up it may make a white wimple, for my daughter's head, on the day of your wedding."

"It will be easy for me to accomplish this, although you may think that it will not be easy," Culhwch repeated to the giant.

"Though you get this, there is yet that which you will not get. Honey that is nine times sweeter than the honey of the virgin swarm, without scum and bees, do I require to make bragget for the feast."

"It will be easy for me to accomplish this, although you may think that it will not be easy," came the prince's answer.

Shirou wondered if the man got tired of repeating himself yet.

"The vessel of Llwyr the son of Llwyryon, which is of the utmost value. There is no other vessel in the world that can hold this drink. Of his free will you will not get it, and you cannot compel him."

"It will be easy for me to accomplish this, although you may think that it will not be easy," The prince had an annoyed expression on his face for once.

The giant continued.

"Though you get this, there is yet that which you will not get. The basket of Gwyddneu Garanhir, if the whole world should come together, thrice nine men at a time, the meat that each of them desired would be found within it. I require to eat there from on the night that my daughter becomes your bride. He will give it to no one of his own free will, and you cannot compel him."

"It will be easy for me to accomplish this, although you may think that it will not be easy," the prince answered.

"Though you get this, there is yet that which you will not get. The horn of Gwlgawd Gododin to serve us with liquor that night. He will not give it of his own free will, and you will not be able to compel him."

"It will be easy for me to accomplish this, although you may think that it will not be easy," it was a stock answer by now.

Shirou noted the king had brought a scribe to chronicle everything; poor man was going to have a small library by the time this conversation was over.

"Though thou get this, there is yet that which you will not get. The harp of Teirtu to play to us that night. When a man desires that it should play, it does so of itself, and when he desires that it should cease, it ceases. And this he will not give of his own free will, and you will/ not be able to compel him."

"It will be easy for me to accomplish this, although you may think that it will not be easy," the prince breathed again.

Shirou really wished real life had a skip button for the "cutscenes".

"Though thou get this, there is yet that which you will not get. The cauldron of Diwrnach Wyddel, the steward of Odgar the son of Aedd, king of Ireland, to boil the meat for your marriage feast."

"It will be easy for me to accomplish this, although you may think that it will not be easy," the Prince had resigned himself to saying this even if it was for an eternity.

The giant seemed to realize he needed something else.

"Though thou get this, there is yet that which you will not get. It is needful for me to wash my head, and shave my beard, and I require the tusk of Yskiyourrwyn Benbaedd to shave myself withal, neither shall I profit by its use if it be not plucked alive out of his head."

"It will be easy for me to accomplish this, although you may think that it will not be easy."

Shirou resisted the urge to shift restlessly on his feet; they'd been talking for at least 30 minutes if not more.

"Though you get this, there is yet that which you will not get. There is no one in the world that can pluck it out of his head except Odgar the son of Aedd, king of Ireland."

"It will be easy for me to accomplish this."

"Though you get this, there is yet that which you will not get. I will not trust anyone to keep the tusk except Gado of North Britain. Now the threescore Cantrevs of North Britain are under his sway, and of his own free will he will not come out of his kingdom, and you will not be able to compel him."

"It will be easy for me to accomplish this, although you may think that it will not be easy."

The giant remembered something when it came to being shaved.

"Though you get this, there is yet that which you will not get. I must spread out my hair in order to shave it, and it will never be spread out unless I have the blood of the jet black sorceress, the daughter of the pure white sorceress, from Pen Nant Govid, on the confines of Hell."

"It will be easy for me to accomplish this, although you may think that it will not be easy."

"Though you get this, there is yet that which you will not get. I will not have the blood unless I have it warm, and no vessels will keep warm the liquid that is put therein except the bottles of Gwyddolwyn Gorr, which preserve the heat of the liquor that is put into them in the east, until they arrive at the west. And he will not give them of his own free will, and you will not be able to compel him."

"It will be easy for me to accomplish this, although you may think that it will not be easy."

"Though you get this, there is yet that which you will not get. Some will desire fresh milk, and it will not be possible to have fresh milk for all, unless we have the bottles of Rhinnon Rhin Barnawd, wherein no liquor ever turns sour. And he will not give them of his own free will, and you will not be able to compel him."

"It will be easy for me to accomplish this, although you may think that it will not be easy."

"Though thou get this, there is yet that which you will not get. Throughout the world there is not a comb or scissors with which I can arrange my hair, on account of its rankness, except the comb and scissors that are between the two ears of Twrch Trwyth, the son of Prince Tared. He will not give them of his own free will, and you will not be able to compel him."

"It will be easy for me to accomplish this, although you may think that it will not be easy."

"Though you get this, there is yet that which you will not get. It will not be possible to hunt Twrch Trwyth without Drudwyn the whelp of Greid, the son of Eri."

"It will be easy for me to accomplish this, although you may think that it will not be easy."

Shirou felt dread gnaw at the pit of his stomach. Twrch Trwyth was famous for one thing only: killing Gwydre, son of King Arthur.

Shirou's mind began to race, did he return Arthur's scabbard to her to save her son, or did he try to save Gwydre himself? How would he explain everything to Arturia? Would she be ready to listen to him? Would she believe him? But that meant he would have to reveal his feelings for her. Shirou was unsure of what he was supposed to do now, and the conversation playing out before him, was far from over.


	13. The First Tasks

**The First Tasks**

 **Author's Note:**

 _I never set out to be_ **Gabriel Blessing** , _yes I know that author is popular and I never expected this story to be much of anything, so I'm very grateful that this hit 304 favorites and 389 follows! I didn't expect my most popular fanfic to be my most controversial one either._

 _I find it funny I got compared to Gabriel Blessing, mainly because I don't set out to write like them at all._

 _I went and watched Galaxy Vol. 2, the only thing I didn't like was the gratuitous swearing, it was really jarring compared to the first movie where they didn't do it as much, but the movie itself was hysterical and I laughed so hard._

 _All I can say is, "It's beautiful, and so are you. On the inside." LOL!_

 _Now onto review responses!_

 **Mo Eazy:** _I know the dialogue slog is really,_ really _boring, but there_ **are** _things in this quest that are going to happen that all this dialogue_ **has** _to be here, and yeah , know this part isn't fun, but like I said, plot points are important! I know the style change is jarring, but I'm working with what I have here. Ironically, what I've done is info dumping and Nasu and Gen Urobuchi get away with it while I get criticized for it._

 **Leonardo Castro:** _You probably won't see this because you've stopped reading, but I appreciate that you're not just mindlessly yelling at me about this story, and no, I'm not Gabriel Blessing, and you might not like my version of Shirou, but I appreciate that you are being reasonable about this. Then again, Gabriel Blessing gets a lot of flak for their stories too._

 **Stratos263:** _Good luck Shirou indeed._

 **Sugassheeep** : _Thank you for enjoying my fanfic. I really appreciate that because it means a lot to me because I get so much criticism for this fanfic._

 **Teh Bleach Bottle:** _I'm so happy you understand why I'm using Arthurian lore. And yeah, it's hard for me to ignore all the criticisms mainly because it's been a big burst of m recent reviews on this story!_

* * *

The giant and the prince continued their verbal sparring.

"Though you get this, there is yet that which you will not get. Throughout the world there is not a leash that can hold him, except the leash of Cwrs Cant Ewin."

The prince did not waver.

"It will be easy for me to accomplish this, although you may think that it will not be easy."

The giant continued, sneering at the nobleman.

"Though you get this, there is yet that which you will not get. Throughout the world there is no collar that will hold the leash except the collar of Canhastyr Canllaw."

"It will be easy for me to accomplish this, although you may think that it will not be easy."

"Though you get this, there is yet that which you will not get. The chain of Kilydd Canhastyr to fasten the collar to the leash."

The poor scribe was diligently writing down everything, in excruciating detail, but all this was necessary. For if they forgot a single item, the quest would fail.

"It will be easy for me to accomplish this, although you may think that it will not be easy."

The giant pondered for a moment.

"Though you get this, there is yet that which you will not get. Throughout the world there is not a huntsman who can hunt with this dog, except Mabon the son of Modron. He was taken from his mother when he hree nights old, and it is not known where he now is, nor whether he is living or dead."

"It will be easy for me to accomplish this, although you may think that it will not be easy." The prince's words were the same, and he wouldn't back down, anyone else would have given up just listening to all the giant's demands.

"Though you get this, there is yet that which you will not get. Gwynn Mygdwn, the horse of Gweddw, that is as swift as the wave, to carry Mabon the son of Modron to hunt the boar Trwyth. He will not give him of his own free will, and you will not be able to compel him."

Surely the Prince would give up.

"It will be easy for me to accomplish this, although you may think that it will not be easy."

This was a battle of wits, a long-winded battle of wits, and the verbal sparring continued.

"Though you get this, there is yet that which you will not get. You will not get Mabon, for it is not known where he is, unless you find Eidoel, his kinsman in blood, the son of Aer. For it would be useless to seek for him. He is his cousin."

"It will be easy for me to accomplish this, although you may think that it will not be easy."

"Though you get this, there is yet that which you will not get. Garselit the Gwyddelian is the chief huntsman of Ireland; the Twrch Trwyth can never be hunted without him."

"It will be easy for me to accomplish this, although you may think that it will not be easy."

"Though you get this, there is yet that which you will not get. A leash made from the beard of Dissull Varvawc, for that is the only one that can hold those two cubs. And the leash will be of no avail unless it be plucked from his beard while he is alive, and twitched out with wooden tweezers. While he lives he will not suffer this to be done to him, and the leash will be of no use should he be dead, because it will be brittle."

"It will be easy for me to accomplish this, although you may think that it will not be easy."

Neither would back down, so the giant upped the ante.

"Though you get this, there is yet that which you will not get. Throughout the world there is no huntsman that can hold those two whelps except Kynedyr Wyllt, the son of Hettwn Glafyrawc; he is nine times more wild than the wildest beast upon the mountains. Him wilt thou never get, neither wilt thou ever get my daughter."

"It will be easy for me to accomplish this, although you may think that it will not be easy."

"Though you get this, there is yet that which you will not get. It is not possible to hunt the boar Trwyth without Gwynn the son of Nudd, whom God has placed over the brood of devils in Annwn, lest they should destroy the present race. He will never be spared thence."

"It will be easy for me to accomplish this, although you may think that it will not be easy."

"Though you get this, there is yet that which you will not get. There is not a horse in the world that can carry Gwynn to hunt the Twrch Trwyth, except Du, the horse of Mor of Oerveddawg."

"It will be easy for me to accomplish this, although you may think that it will not be easy."

"Though you get this, there is yet that which you will not get. Until Gilennhin the king of France shall come, the Twrch Trwyth cannot be hunted. It will be unseemly for him to leave his kingdom for thy sake, and he will never come hither."

"It will be easy for me to accomplish this, although you may think that it will not be easy."

"Though you get this, there is yet that which you will not get. The Twrch Trwyth can never be hunted without the son of Alun Dyved; he is well skilled in letting loose the dogs."

"It will be easy for me to accomplish this, although you may think that it will not be easy."

Shirou knew that everything would be accomplished, or the story wouldn't have been written down for him to read in the future. Still, he remembered this was the long, boring section.

"Though you get this, there is yet that which you will not get. The Twrch Trwyth cannot be hunted unless thou get Aned and Aethlem. They are as swift as the gale of wind, and they were never let loose upon a beast that they did not kill him."

"It will be easy for me to accomplish this, although you may think that it will not be easy."

"Though you get this, there is yet that which you will not get; Arthur and his companions to hunt the Twrch Trwyth. He is a mighty man, and he will not come for thee, neither wilt thou be able to compel him."

"It will be easy for me to accomplish this, although you may think that it will not be easy."

"Though you get this there is yet that which you will not get. The Twrch Trwyth cannot be hunted unless you get Bwlch, and Kyfwlch [and Sefwlch], the grandsons of Cleddyf Difwlch. Their three shields are three gleaming glitterers Their three spears are three pointed piercers. Their three swords are three griding gashers, Glas, Glessic, and Clersag. Their three dogs, Call, Cuall, and Cavall. Their three horses, Hwyrdydwg, and Drwgdydwg, and Llwyrdydwg. Their three wives, Och, and Garam, and Diaspad. Their three grandchildren, Lluched, and Vyned, and Eissiwed. Their three daughters, Drwg, and Gwaeth, and Gwaethav Oll. Their three handmaids [Eheubryd, the daughter of Kyfwlch; Gorasgwrn, the daughter of Nerth; and Gwaedan, the daughter of Kynvelyn]. These three men shall sound the horn, and all the others shall shout, so that all will think that the sky is falling to the earth."

"It will be easy for me to accomplish this, although you may think that it will not be easy."

Their verbal duel was about to end, and he could finally leave this place!

"Though you get this, there is yet that which you will not get. The sword of Gwrnach the Giant; he will never be slain except therewith. Of his own free will he will not give it, either for a price or as a gift, and you will never be able to compel him."

"It will be easy for me to accomplish this, although you may think that it will not be easy."

"Though you get this, there is yet that which you will not get. Difficulties shall you meet with, and nights without sleep, in seeking this, and if you obtain it not, neither shall you obtain my daughter."

"Horses shall I have, and chivalry; and my lord and kinsman Arthur will obtain for me all these things. And I shall gain your daughter, and you shall lose your life." good

"Go forward. And you shall not be chargeable for food or raiment for my daughter while you are seeking these things; and when you have accomplished all these marvels, you shall have my daughter for your wife."

The scribe passed out from exhaustion as Shirou managed to catch him.

"Wake him so we can go to meat! I am starving!" Arthur called to them.

They left the next day, Arthur departed, heading back to Camelot.

"I should go back with you," Shirou told her.

"No, there are too many rumors going on about you, if you are away on an adventure, the suspicions about you will lessen. I look forward to hearing of your adventures Shirou."

They began travelling until they reached the largest castle Shirou had ever seen.

It was also guarded by a very tall black man.

"Where do you come from, oh man?" Kay asked.

"From the castle which you see yonder," the man replied.

"Whose castle is that?" Kay queried.

"Stupid are ye truly, Oh men. There is no one in the world that does not know to whom this castle belongs. It is the castle of Gwrnach the Giant."

"What treatment is there for guests and strangers that alight in that castle?" "Oh! Prince, Heaven protect you. No guest ever returned thence alive, and no one may enter therein unless he brings with him his craft."

"Oh! Prince, Heaven protect you. No guest ever returned thence alive, and no one may enter therein unless he brings with him his craft."

They made their way towards the gate.

Gwrhyr Gwalstawd Ieithoedd called to them, "Is there a porter?"

"There is. And you, if your tongue be not mute in your head, where do you call?"

"Open the gate." Kay demanded.

"I will not open it," the porter replied.

"Why will you not?"

"The knife is in the meat, and the drink is in the horn, and there is revelry in the hall of Gwrnach the Giant, and except for a craftsman who brings his craft, the gate will not be opened tonight."

"Certainly, porter," Shirou called to him, "I bring my craft with me."

"What is your craft?"

"I am the best burnisher of swords in the world."

"I will go and tell this to Gwrnach the Giant, and I will bring you an answer." So the porter went in, and Gwrnach said to him, "Have you any news from the gate?"

"I have. There is a party at the door of the gate who desire to come in."

"Did you inquire of them if they possessed any art?"

"I did inquire," the porter said, "and one told me that he was well skilled in the burnishing of swords."

"We have need of him then. For some time have I sought for someone to polish my sword, and could find no one. Let this man enter, since he brings with him his craft."

The porter then returned and opened the gate.

Shirou went alone and saluted the giant and the servants placed a chair before him so that he could sit opposite to Gwrnach.

Gwrnach said to him, "Oh man! is it true that is reported of thee that you know how to burnish swords?"

"I know how to do so," Shirou answered.

The servants brought Gwrnach's sword to him. And Shirou took a blue whetstone from under his arm.

"Do you want it burnished white or blue?" Shirou asked.

"Do with it as it seems good to you, and as though would if it were your own," the giant told him.

Shirou polished the sword. "Will this please you?"

"I would rather than all that is in my dominions that the whole of it were like to this. It is a marvel to me that such a man as thou should be without a companion."

"Have the porter go and I will tell him that he will know him. The head of his lance will leave its shaft, and draw blood from the wind, and descend upon its shaft again," Shirou explained.

Shirou called for Kay and Bedivere to the castle with him.

"Bedivere is very skilled, although he doesn't know this art," Kay said.

The men outside began to worry for Sir Bedivere, Sir Kay and even the Archer of Red.

Then the son of Custennin snuck inside the castle with his companions and they passed the three wards.

"You have done this! You are the best of all men."

They called him Goreu and were happy he was with them. They made their lodging inside the castle but killed everyone inside and the giant was unaware of it.

Shirou finished polishing the sword and handed it to Gwrnach the Giant to see if he was pleased with it.

"The work is good, I am content with it," Gwrnach replied.

"It's your scabbard that has rusted your sword, give it to me that I may take out the wooden sides of it and put in new ones," Shirou told him.

Shirou took the sword in one hand and the scabbard in the other. He came and stood over the giant and made it look like he was going to put the sword into the scabbard.

Before the giant could react, Shirou took the sword and decapitated the giant, cutting his head off with one strike.

"Everything in this castle belongs to us now!" Kay told them.

The men found a vast treasure room that was so bright Shirou blinked a bit.

He filled up a small bag of gold and jewels. He wasn't sure what he was going o do with all this money, and he wasn't a particularly greedy person.

Shirou's eye fell on a particularly pretty jewel and gasped. It was the same jewel that Rin Tohsaka had used to save his life in the Fifth Holy Grail War. It was ironic that it was a jewel from a story about King Arthur, rather than something that actually belonged to her.

Shirou wondered for a moment if he should give the jewel to Saber or if he should keep it for himself.

"You were very clever you know, tricking that giant into giving you his sword," Gwydre told Shirou.

"It was nothing, no big deal really," Shirou told him.

"I wish I was that clever, but you've always been the smart one haven't you. Only you or Sir Kay could have done that."

"Not really, I was rather average in school," Shirou told him.

"I highly doubt that, but still, if I am to be a good king, I should be clever, like you."

"Just stay close to me, you'll be fine," Shirou told him. His words had a double meaning, but he didn't want to Prince to know that.

The knights took all the spoils from the castle and headed back to Camelot.

Shirou walked into the throne room, staring at the King of Knights in all her splendor and bowed before her. He presented to her the sword of Gwrnach the Giant.

Sir Kay told her of Shirou's deeds and after the tale was finished, she was thoughtful.

"Which of these marvels will it be best for us to seek first?"

"It will be best," Bedivere said, "to seek Mabon the son of Modron; and he will not be found unless we first find Eidoel, the son of Aer, his kinsman."

Arthur gathered up the men of Britain and they travelled to the Castle of Glivi, looking for Eidoel.

Glivi stood on the summit of his castle, "Arthur, what do you require of me, since nothing remains to me in this fortress, and I have neither joy nor pleasure in it; neither wheat nor oats? Please do not do me harm."

"I will give you my prisoner, though I had not thought to give him up to anyone and here you have my support and my aid."

His followers said to Arthur, "Lord, you go home, you cannot proceed with your host in quest of such small adventures as these."

Arthur said, "It's well for you, Gwrhyr Gwalstawd Ieithoedd, to go on this quest, for you know all languages, and art familiar with those of the birds and the beasts. Thou, Eidoel, ought to go with my men in search of your cousin. And as for you, Kay Bedivere, and Shirou, I have hope of whatever adventure you are in quest of, that you will achieve it. Achieve you this adventure for me."

"Your Highness, I must speak to you in private tonight, before you leave for Camel. It is very important, a private matter.

He whispered in her ear to meet him in the kitchen at midnight.

* * *

Arthur arrived and Shirou put a bounded field around the doors so no one could hear their conversation from the outside.

"Arturia, do you remember when you told me that you had a bad feeling about this quest?"

"Yes, I remember, what about it?"

"You aren't wrong, and as I have told you, I come from the future, and the story does end well for Cullwch, your cousin."

"But my premonition is not wrong," Arthur told him.

"This quest will take the life of your son, Gwydre," Shirou said to her.

Arthur looked as if he had stabbed her through the heart with a dagger.

"What?" she asked in disbelief, as if he'd uttered gibberish to her.

"The details are never very clear, except that the boar Twrch Trwyth will kill your son."

Arthur was reeling from this revelation. She felt like she drank too much wine.

She staggered back and Shirou caught her.

"Please don't worry, I will save your son," Shirou reassured her.

"Even a mage as powerful as you cannot change fate," Arthur told him.

"It's funny hearing you say that, you're the one who wanted to change fate, it was way you answered my summons in the future."

"I have no desire to change the outcome Merlin has told me of, I will end my reign satisfied with my work."

"I will change your son's fate. I can, because I have something that belongs to you, I have had it for a very long time and because I was summoned to this era, I was able to trace it again."

"Trace on," Shirou uttered.

Avalon, Excalibur's scabbard appeared. Arthur took it and gazed at it.

"You have had this with you, and yet you do not ask for a reward."

"I don't need a reward, it was yours to begin with," Shirou gazed at her.

"Why would you do this? You treat my scabbard as if it is just something to give back to me, as if it were so simple. What do you want Shirou Emiya, if not a reward?"

"I want you to be happier than anyone else," Shirou replied to her.

"Why would you want that?" she asked.

"Because I love you, Arturia Pendragon. I love you more than anything and that is the only honest answer I can give you."

She stared at him; her mind was reeling even more than before.

"I know that I was your Servant in that distant future. But that does not mean I'm willing to give my heart over to you as well," Arturia told him.

Shirou suddenly laughed, "You said that to me when we had an again, but you're insisting that fate can't be changed!"

"Place the scabbard inside Gwydre's body and stay with him, and he will survive the quest."

"How do you know this will work?" Arturia asked him.

"Because it was how I survived that war with you. You tried to save many lives, but mine was the only one you could save. That is why you loved me, and it made you very happy."

Shirou sighed. "I suppose I've said too much already. Please don't tell anyone, if they find out how I have your scabbard, it may lead to them learning about your gender, and that would only cause problems."

Shirou turned away to leave the room. "About these dreams, you haven't seen anything…intimate have you?"

"What? What do you mean?" Arturia asked.

"Nothing, never mind," Shirou said hastily. He turned away from her.

"I have said all I need to say, I'll be leaving with Kay and Bedivere in the morning. He began to walk away from her.

He wasn't lying to her. But how was that possible? He did not give her longing looks or sigh over her, and it had nothing with the characteristics of courtly love, turning pale, the jealousy, the suspicion, he was never apprehensive about her.

The love he had for her was completely different from anything she knew or understood.

He loved her more than anything, and had not said a word, even when she had ordered for him to be flogged. He had endured it all, and he had never stopped looking at her during the ordeal, because he loved her, and she'd given him strength to endure torture pain at her hands, because she was the one he loved, so he could endure her wrath.

He had endured suffering because of Le Fay, and now she realized she was little better than her sister. And yet he still loved her more than anything.

The King of Knights burst into tears.

Shirou Emiya was a flawed man, walking the path of a broken mage, trying desperately to reach his ideal. She was blind and crippled by her ideals, and everyone believed she could not understand others, that she was a demon, despite the image she wanted the people to see, she was hardly the good, upright, righteous knight and king.

Arturia buried her face in her hands to stifle her sobs, guilt washed over her in waves. She thought of how she treated him, wished he were dead and how she'd wanted to mete out cruel punishments to him for things he could not control, and yet he said that he loved her more than anything.

And yet he was flawed, he'd sought out fleeting pleasure to ease his pain. If she had been kinder to him, if she had been more understanding, he would have not sinned against his love for her.

And yet, he sought to redeem himself, to prove to her that he loved her more than anything.

She heard footsteps as he moved to embrace her.

"Now leave your grieving and mourning, gentle knight, for it is of no avail," he whispered, holding her in his arms.

"Shirou, I beg your forgiveness—" Arturia began to apologize.

"Don't cry, Arturia, there's nothing to forgive," he whispered, soothing her with his touch, stroking her hair. "I am the one, who will beg your forgiveness, for as long as I live, forever if necessary."

Arturia looked at him, "But I forgave you. Will you not forgive yourself?"

He ran his fingers through her hair. "I have, but sometimes I still feel guilty."

And Arturia felt as if everything that gave her life meaning could be found in Shirou Emiya's arms.

"You are the only person I've ever truly been close to," Arturia gently stroked his face.

"What do you mean?" Shirou asked, curious.

"I did not give you the position in this house of Groom of the Stool so that a mage could be in the most desired position here. I put you there, because you didn't care about my private secrets, and that you were willing to take care of me without any thought of reward. Many powerful men want access to me through that position, and I've never trusted anyone with such physical intimacy, because they would use my gender against me."

"I don't care about any of that, I care about you," Shirou whispered, stroking her hair.

"People don't want me to be a person, they want me to be an it," Arturia whispered.

"What?"

"The crown, they want me to be a distant admirable symbol, that is all, and I can live with that," she told him softly.

"That is not how a person should live," Shirou whispered. He leaned close and kissed her again.

"Shirou," Arturia whispered. "What do you want from me?"

"I only want to give you a parting gift before I go," Shirou murmured.

He began undoing the buttons on her shirt.

"Let me kiss your breasts," he murmured.

"You would be so indecent?"

"I don't care."

"I give you permission," she told him nervously.

He parted it so he could see her breasts as he planted kisses down her neck and trailed them to her breast. He began sucking gently as she began gasping.

Shirou slipped his finger between her legs.

"Shirou, you cannot do this!" she ran her fingers through his hair but did not push him away.

"You want me to or you would stop me," he stopped to say as he curled his fingers, searching for her g-spot.

"Oh Shirou!" she moaned.

"Does that please you, Arturia?" Shirou asked.

"Yes, more! Please, more!"

"Your command is my pleasure always," he murmured. He moved her over to the table and told her to hold on.

He knelt before her and spread her legs; he moved between them and began to slip s tongue in and out, adding his fingers to stimulate her.

"You shouldn't your mouth between my legs!"

He moved his tongue faster, speeding up his rhythm.

"By my faith, you're going to drive me mad!" Arturia began to rock her hips.

"Saber…mmm…you taste so good!" Shirou growled.

Shirou sighed, he was content, he was stroking her with his fingers and tongue.

He had craved this for so long, he was going to make it last.

Arturia was lost in pleasure; she couldn't stop the loud noises from escaping her throat. She was grateful that Shirou had set up the Bounded Field so that she would not be heard.

Arturia felt her body clench around him and she cried out, "Shirou!"

Warm fluid covered his fingers. He pressed his mouth against hers.

His tongue dueled hers and she lay trembling in his arms.

"I did not know that pleasure could be so wonderful!"

"You've made love before, and that was merely foreplay," Shirou glanced at her.

"I have made love, but never as a woman," Arturia told him. "I'm about to collapse!"

He eased her down into his arms on the floor, "I've got you Arturia, I've got you!"

They lay in each other's arms.

Arturia blushed when she saw the mage lick his fingers and look satisfied.

"You are not supposed to enjoy it," she sighed.

"Only God and you know I do!" he laughed.

"What about you?" Arturia asked. "Your soldier's standing up."

"You don't need to worry about that, people will worry if they realize you've been awake so long."

"Are you alright?" Arturia asked him.

"You people believe it's bad to waste a man's seed, that's how you people think right?'

"Yes. But it has always been the man's needs that are important in these matters."

"I'll be fine, you just go, and I'll clean up the mess."

"Good night, Arturia," he smiled, cleaning her hand and kissing it.

"Good night, Shirou," she whispered.

Shirou walked back to bed. Laying down, he smiled a little. Saber had accepted him and perhaps she could save Gwydre with her scabbard.

He wondered if he could truly change her fate in this era, but it seemed that his fortunes were finally turning. But still, he would have to do his best to keep Gwydre alive, but for now, he would be content.

Arturia Pendragon's mind was spinning. Everything was a blur, and yet, she had felt such sweet pleasure with Shirou that she feared it could tear her apart. There wasn't any way they could be together in public, and if they were caught it could destroy them, if not the entire kingdom.

Still, she did not regret letting him be intimate with her, and she knew that like Guinevere, she craved happiness and she was foolishly letting herself indulge in it.

But what of Gwydre, and her other sons, if they discovered Shirou, Amhar was likely to lead a rebellion, still, she would not let anyone discover them, sand she would save her son, thanks to Shirou.

Shirou was not the Archer of Red, he as Shirou Emiya. The man who loved her.

She let her eyes close as she drifted off to sleep, she didn't dream of anything tonight maybe that was a good omen that the quest would be successful after all.


End file.
